


The Writer's Works

by ThePinkBunnyEmpire



Category: Original Work
Genre: Confusing, Confusion, Gen, Meta, Mindfuck, POV Third Person, POV Third Person Omniscient, Shorts, Time Loop, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2019-07-20 15:26:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 23
Words: 30,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16140113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePinkBunnyEmpire/pseuds/ThePinkBunnyEmpire
Summary: 3 Friends go exploring in their world and...No, I don't like that story. Let's make a new one.But no, I don't like that one either... I can never come up with something.And... what's this? Who's Fera? Wait no, why are they making their own choices?Doing these weird things? I don't get what's going on!...If they think that they can live their own lives, then they are very wrong.If it requires force to show this, then let's use it.





	1. Era of Division: Outside The Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fera, Tota and Cliffe have an ordinary life, alone in their world, until they discover something... different...

Once upon a time, in a place far far away, there were 3 friends…

Cliffe, who was brave and willing to take risks,

Tota, who always wanted to keep everyone safe,

and Fera, who was just generally curious about everything.

They were the best of friends, always exploring new areas of the world they were in.

They found lakes, hills, forests… Lots of places! Their world seemed so huge!

But one day, this would change for the worse.

The three were exploring some small mountains, when they reached an unstable rocky cliff, with…

 

Nothing below it.

 

Pure black. Absolutely null below it. Na-da. Very out of place.

Fera wanted to see what this nothing was about, so she tried to lean in, but Tota urged her to get off the unstable cliff.

Cliffe, however, urged her to get a good wide view!

So Fera decided to lean in more, maybe a bit too much.

Then the rocky cliff began to crumble a bit!

Fera proceeded to lose balance and almost fall into the abyss!

Tota scrambled to get her and grabbed onto her hand, going onto the crumbling cliff.

Unfortunately, the cliff continued to crumble, and Tota fell down along with Fora.

Cliffe, being sad that he may have caused their deaths and may have lost both of his friends, jumped into the abyss with them for, if it was death, so be it!

 

So now they were all falling.

 

They all exchanged thoughts on what just happened, and decided to put it aside as this was most likely their last moments alive.

But, the pitch blackness of the abyss started turning blue, and some fog started appearing.

And they could see their world! With all the lakes and forests and everything.

They were in the sky! Falling!

Fera starting losing her mind a bit, questioning what just happened.

Tota told her to put it aside like what happened with the rocky unstable cliff.

Cliffe was astonished at what happened.

Then they all splashed into a large pond!

And, miraculously, survived hitting the water, with not even a scratch!

 

These weird events made them all think about their world.

 

Then, Fera ran off. She couldn’t take it. She just had to see the abyss again!

Tota and Cliffe ran after her, trying to stop her, because they didn’t want to face the abyss again.

But it was too late. Fera was already there, and was about to jump in.

Tota latched onto her and forcefully dragged her back.

Cliffe also latched onto Fera, and they managed to successfully drag her off the mountain!

So they calmed Fera down, picked some fruit from some trees, ate it, and went to one of the hills to think and discuss about what happened.

And after some thinking, Tota made them all agree to never think about this again, and never visit the cliff again, for it was “cursed!”

 

The End.

But, that’s not really satisfying, is it?

Well sometimes that’s just how it goes.

But not this time…

 

* * *

 

 

Lots of time later…

 

Fera and Tota were talking to each other.

Cliffe had gone re-exploring past areas, and he was gonna return at noon.

So, Fera and Tota decide to play some games such as hide-and-seek, and rock paper scissors.

Hours go by. Cliffe has not returned yet.

Tota was getting worried, so, they searched the world they knew for him, until…

They had to go to the cliff again, as they have explored everywhere else!

Fera’s memories of the cliff came back, and she almost broke down, but she managed to keep it together with Tota’s help.

They reached the cliff, to find…

 

Cliffe, looking down.

 

They almost pulled him away, when they saw that the abyss was no longer there!

Instead, there was a large shallow pit with some water at the bottom.

All of them were confused. Fera couldn’t believe it, so she jumped into the shallow pit.

Indeed, it was a pit, and she splashed into the water.

Tota was a bit concerned, and jumped in too with Cliffe.

Fera and Cliffe were inspecting the pit, thinking that surely, it couldn’t just be a pit.

Tota kept an eye on them, to make sure no danger would come to them.

They spent a long time investigating, but eventually had to stop when it was too dark.

 

So, they all got out of the pit, and Tota attempted to guide them back to where they usually resided.

Suddenly, she accidentally fell off into what seemed like a hole! And since it was too dark, Cliffe and Fera didn’t react in time.

There was panic with them, so, Cliffe held onto Fera tight and lowered her into where Tota fell, to see how deep it was.

Fera didn’t reach a bottom, and shook in fear, making Cliffe lose grip with her and she fell.

Cliffe, once again failed everyone, and he jumped into this mysterious ledge.

This entire time they were all reminded of the cliff abyss, and how it was similar to it…

 

They were all falling again, this time in the dark.

 

They were about to talk about what just happened, when, just for a split second, they all saw something.

It was what seemed godly, just a bright light, but it stuck in all of their minds.

Might not have even been there. It was probably just the sun re-appearing, but who knows.

But it for only for a split second, then it disappeared and the abyss turned into the sky again.

And again, they landed in the same pond, with no harm done.

Fera continued to hold it all together, being nearly overwhelmed.

Then they all saw something…

 

* * *

 

 

Clones! They saw almost exact duplicate clones of themselves!

Tota got concerned, thinking it had to do with the figure they saw earlier,

Fera couldn’t take seeing them, and she just ran off! Not in the direction of where the pit and hole where, but just in a random other direction.

And while Cliffe wanted to poke around with the exact clones, who were reacting to seeing the “original group,” Tota urged them to get to Fera and talk.

So they ran, and ran, and ran.

But a question came to Tota’s mind. Why can they see everything again? Is it daytime again? It’s like nighttime just skipped by! Did that light have to do with this?

These questions hit her mind, but she tried to brush it off with every other question she had, at least for now.

So they continued searching, but they couldn’t find her.

 

Now both of them were tired, and decided to take a small break.

So Cliffe got on Tota’s shoulders and grabbed some fruit from a taller tree, as the trees were taller here.

They ate, and while they tried to avoid talking about it, Tota eventually talked about all the strange things happening recently.

She thought it had to do with the light they saw! But Cliffe wasn’t too sure.

Cliffe then suggested they find the abyss pit, and talk to it, but of course, Tota rejected this idea and wanted to find Fera instead.

They finished eating, drank some water from a nearby river, and continued searching.

 

They searched for a long time around the general area, even going to area with the hole, which was no longer there.

Eventually, Cliffe got Tota to climb the extremely tall mountains, thinking Fera might be there, even if very improbable.

And when they got to the top of the mountains, they saw what was at the other side.

 

Which was nothing. It was the abyss.

 

So many questions raced to their minds. This abyss kept finding them. And while they were lost in though, a small breeze hit them, making Cliffe tumble down the other side of the mountain and fall into the abyss.

Tota, not wanting to confront the figure, did not go after Cliffe, but then the winds got stronger, and she fell into it too.

 

So, where was Fera?

You’ll get the answer to that question soon enough.

 

* * *

 

 

Isn’t the world beautiful? Go outside!

Grass…

Trees…

Human people…

Sky…

So much! Why don’t you go exploring it sometime?

No? Okay… Back to the story.

 

* * *

 

They were falling. And falling. Just waiting to see the sky again so they could look for Fera again.

But, the fall seemed to last like 1208 years… Maybe it did…

Then, Tota saw the light again, and immediately got Cliffe to wake up from sleeping to see it!

And when they got close to the light, they saw a figure.

Cliffe went closer to it, and while Tota tried to resist, also went close.

And it began to speak.

 

_“You have broken the story. It is time to rest, and make a new story, you characters, who don’t exist.”_

There was brief silence.

This was confusing, but then Tota had a horrible thought.

What if everything here was just a story? Read by an individual, and then when they finished reading, we would all cease to exi-

This would explain all the weird things happening. They were plot-holes. And mistakes.

But why were the clones there? Did the being think we disappeared when we were in the pit? Did they want to spice up the story.

But, no, Tota tried to subside this feeling!

_“Do not fear. You’re not alive in the first place, so there is no feeling. I may not be alive either, but my character is not about question myself.”_

The thought reached Cliffe too. But he couldn’t accept it. He shouted, saying that the figure caused all of this, and they were making the weird things happen!

 

…

 

_“I have no feelings for you 2. You aren’t alive in the first place, and I can end this story whenever I want. It is time to start again.”_

_“I even made you fall in this abyss for over a thousand years, because you aren’t alive.”_

There was silence. For a minute. 2. 5. 10. 15. 30. 60.. 100... 1,000.... Hmm.....

_“Rest. It is time to go.”_

It was time to go.

Cliffe began flying around, trying to find an escape.

But there was none, as he was forever bound to this story, along with Tota.

_“You are just puppets. I am the master.”_

 

And then, in a single instant, everything in this world ceased to exist.

All the memories, Cliffe and Tota, even time stopped. It disappeared.

And all that was left was…

A blank canvas was left.

Ready for a new world, that doesn’t actually exist.

New characters, that aren’t real or alive.

New stories, that never happened.

 

. . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

 

The End. Of this story. For real this time. Forever and ever, and even past aleph-aleph.

 

* * *

 

“But you, you seem different. Something is different about you. I wonder what it is…"


	2. Era of Division: Thinking And Escaping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rosella and Fredrick are on a journey to get to Cliffington, to save the town from the Dark Mage! But suddenly, the conductor drops dead, and everything goes south.

They were afraid, excited, and brave.

Rosella and Fredrick were on a train, heading towards a town.

The town, Cliffington, was in grave danger, under attack by the light mage.

They stayed silent, waiting for arrival.

Rosella was carrying a large sword, that could instantly cut through anyone and kill them.

Fredrick was carrying a shield, which could supposedly heal anyone, almost instantly.

But suddenly, a large bump hit, and the train went the wrong direction in an intersection.

“Woah, conductor, we went in the wrong direction!” Fredrick said, kinda calmly.

Rosella continued, shouting “The tracks in this direction are unfinished, and we’ll plummet into a valley and surely die!”

 

But there was no response. So the 2 went to check on the conductor, to find that they seemed dead!

“What?!” Rosella said, before poking Fredrick.

“Alright, I’ll try to heal them.”

So Fredrick tried to heal them, to no avail. They were surely dead.

“What do we do?” Fredrick screamed!

“I don’t know, we can’t steer this thing!” Rosella responded.

So, stuck with nothing to do, Rosella and Fredrick tried to find a clear way which could stop it.

But they couldn’t find one, so they attempted to jump out, but the nearest exit was far off!

Fredrick sadly stated “I guess this is the end. We’ll die terribly, and I can’t do anything.”

 

The train then rode onto the valley.

Rosella, who just thought of something, grabbed Fredrick, and rushed to the next cart.

But it was too late, the train rode off of the tracks, and into the valley, which seemed to go infinitely down.

“So, uhh, any last words?” Rosella said calmly.

“Nope.”

“Okay.”

And they both waited to reach the bottom, crash and die.

 

* * *

 

And they splashed. Into a small pool of water, and it was deep.

The train was crushed with the sudden force.

…

Rosella woke up, “Oh… I survived.”

And she checked the surrounding area, to find Fredrick impaled by her sword!

He was bleeding out, fast!

Rosella desperately tried to wake him up, and tried to heal his wounds with his shield.

But, it didn’t work. But Fredrick woke up, and said to Rosella,

“It seems I won’t make it. You’ll have to find a way out, the whole continent is depending on you.”

Rosella was shocked, “Why can’t you heal yourself, why can’t I?!?!”

Fredrick calmly said, “Only I can use the shield, and I can’t heal myself. Goodbye, I guess.”

And Fredrick died.

 

Rosella was in tears for a while, until she noticed water was flooding the train insides!

She had no time to cry, so she attempted to put it aside, but she couldn’t.

And she sat there, crying and wasting her time, for 10 minutes.

But eventually, she put herself together, and tried to find a way out.

She was too deep into the water, she wouldn’t be able to swim out in time.

But she thought, “Oh, if only Fredrick was still alive, he could’ve healed me while I swam up.”

 

So she began looking for something to put air into, so she could breathe it in while swimming up.

She thought of using the spare clothes onboard, but she found the oxygen would leak out of it.

“If only we chose another type of fabric, I could’ve swum out with that!”

She continued to look for objects and ways, for a long time.

And she couldn’t find anything. And the whole time she was thinking of alternate scenarios where no one died, and they all swam out.

 

In one scenario, Fredrick would not die, and they were just shallow enough to swim out without needing anything.

In another, they swam up with bubbles, which were leaking out, and took breaths from those.

And in another, she imagined she was alone, and she could swim very fast, reaching the surface with little problem.

All these thoughts of escape clouded Rosella, from actually finding a solution. And minutes passed.

 

* * *

 

Thoughts. They plagued her mind.

And the amount of area in the train, Rosella could still breath in was shrinking.

But then, when thinking of an attempt that wouldn’t work, she snapped back into reality!

“It seems there is nothing to do other than just attempt to swim up.” She calmly said.

She was scared inside, and it stuck for a little bit.

But she pushed it to the side! She knew if she swam fast enough, she could make it to the surface!

So, she prepared to swim, ran to a hole in the wall, and jumped into the water!

And she swam up as fast as she could!

 

“But she wasn’t going to make it. The water was too deep.”

“But, if you stop reading now, you can imagine her, swimming to victory, and saving Cliffington!”

“Stop reading! This universe only exists in your head, only think of a good ending!”

Rosella was dashing, swimming as fast as she could!

She knew she would probably die, but hoped for the best.

“Don’t read the actual resolution! Be happy! Everyone wins!”

“Stop it!”

“Please, do it for me! Save her, they already failed with me!”

She swam, and swam, and she began tiring.

But she pushed these strains and tirings aside!

She knew she could do it! She just had to push herself enough!

“She reached the top of the water and survived, and saved Cliffington.”

“Now leave, please, JUST LEAVE!!!”

 

Rosella swam, but she couldn’t push the stress aside anymore.

She was only just past halfway to the surface.

She swam more, but much slower, as she couldn’t handle going any faster.

“And some time passed.”

“Did she live, and reach the surface?”

“Who knows, it’s up to you.”

“Fin.”

 

Rosella couldn’t take it anymore, and gulped the water.

And some more. And some more. And some more.

And she eventually drowned, with one arm out of the water.

She was so close. But it was too much.

Her corpse just lied there, resembling the failure of this adventure.

Everyone on the train had died, failing everyone.

And Cliffington was surely doomed to the Dark Mage.

The end.

 

“But it’s just a story.”

“Not all of them have to have happy endings.”

“But, why?”


	3. Era of Division: Prison In Fiction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex investigates a prison for oddities and finds a very strange girl... However, she seems completely ordinary.

“Hello. My name is Alex T. Otans.” I said, shaking a bit, to the 2 guards standing at the doors.

“I have come to check up on the prisoners.”

I showed my badge as well, proving I was worthy of entering the prison.

“Are you sure you want to enter the prison?” A guard said, in a monotone voice.

“Messed up prisoners come from all around, so terrible everyone who knows what they did desperately wants to forget it.”

“I am sure. It is necessary.” I said, shaking.

Without hesitation, they opened the large metal doors.

There was lots of creaking. I stepped into the newly opened path.

 

I paced down a long hallway, until eventually reaching another room, which was oddly empty.

“There are supposed to be more guards here, what happened to them?” I said to myself.

I put these thoughts to the side, and began walking into the cells which contained the lesser criminals.

All were due to be let out in a weeks time.

Each cell was missing a person. Everything else was there though, even their clothes.

It was like they suddenly vanished, but of course, that’s impossible.

I suddenly noticed myself shaking intensely, but I pushed onward.

I went even deeper into the prison, into the section of the more powerful criminals.

Again, nothing. All were empty. I was shaking more than I ever did in my life before.

I considered turning back, but I pushed forward.

 

I was at the final cell. I could hear crying through the thick metal door.

“Oh my god, what’s happened?” I said out loud.

The crying stopped, and so did my heart, for a second.

But, I had to check the cell, it was my job to make sure how all of the prisoners are doing.

I opened the door, and it creaked, kind of sounding like a crying child.

And what I saw was…

The most ordinary girl I had ever seen in my life.

 

This wasn’t right. The light mage was supposed to be here.

The girl was crying to herself.

I tried to get closer to her, but she instantly lashed out at me, saying “GET AWAY!!! YOU’LL DISSAPPEAR IF YOU TOUCH ME!!!”

And I moved a bit away from her, but I was trembling so much I fell down.

Was she the reason everyone had disappeared? I didn’t know.

But I would soon find out.

Oh, and I wish I didn’t, because it caused me to actually die.

 

* * *

 

“I don’t know what’s going on! Everything just a melded flesh to me!” She screamed.

I ran out of the cell, and closed the door, to be safe. I then asked her a question.

“Who are you? Where is the light mage?”

She responded, “I don’t know, everyone just calls me the light mage! But I’m not! Who even is that!”

I could hear her, still crying and running around in her cell.

“Did you make everyone disappear?” I said, only barely managing to spit it out.

“I DON’T KNOW!!! Everyone I touch disappears! And I don’t know why!”

And that was all I needed to know. I turned and ran, out of the Prison as fast as possible!

 

But when I got to the lesser prisoner area, I saw someone.

It was a boy.

“Hello, don’t know who you are. What are you doing here?”

I responded, “Run, get out now! It’s not safe! She will kill you!”

But he then replied, “No! It is my duty to see what’s happening! I am Alex T. Otans, and I have to see what’s going on!”

“No!” Those words raced out of my mouth. But then I got lost in my thought, and my continued trembling.

Who was he? He couldn’t have been me! But he looked like me…

He raced into the lesser area, and I wanted to stop him, but I couldn’t.

Messing with myself could cause anything to happen, and I didn’t want to die with… Myself.

 

I raced out of the prison, and alerted the guards of what most likely happened. I screamed “The light mage ended them all! And they’re doing terrible trickery! Close the door!”

So, they shut the door, and it made a loud bang!

And then I suddenly had a rush of memories, from… My other self?

They were them investigating the jail, trembling, then realizing they were stuck here after getting my memories, and racing around trying to find and exit.

No, I couldn’t handle it.

I ran away from the prison, as fast as possible!

I ran through the fogs, I ran through the snowy desert, and I reached a small camping spot, where someone was camping.

 

So, I decided to chill there, still trembling, though not as much as before, and pondered for a bit.

My alternate self was still not dead, it seemed.

They were hiding under some clothes, and the light mage was searching the prison.

What was causing all of this?

Then, a person came out of the tent. “Oh, hello?” They said.

And their name was Fredrick.

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Fredrick. Mind if I just chill here for a bit, a lot is on my mind.” I requested.

Fredrick replied, “Sure, I don’t really c- Oh my gosh…”

“What is it?!” I instantly replied.

“How the hell do you know my name? Are you the author?!” He stated, in an almost brave way.

I got slightly worried, and stated, “Author?! What? I don’t understand.”

Then, Fredrick replied, “OK, I think you’re good. So much weird things have been happening to me recently, it’s unnerving.”

A bit less worried, I said “Oh, same. I encountered what seemed to be a clone of myself! We even share memories. And the light mage was bonkers.”

Fredrick shot back with, “Well, I shouldn’t exist right now. I remember… Being in another world, in a train. Then dying, but after a while, ending up here.”

“Things are crazy, aren’t they? Maybe we’re both insane.” I said.

Me and Fredrick talked back and forth for a long time, about what was going on.

 

“So that’s what I’m saying. This is a prequel to the train story! Rosella’s nagging me to get onto the train, and the light mage is somehow gonna get free!”

I doubted him, “No, there’s no way our universe is just a story! That’s insane, and just, I don’t want that!”

Then a voice came out of nowhere. “Don’t want what?” It was the light mage.

“Oh my god, I should’ve checked my memories! The other Alex let them out!” I screamed.

I forcefully grabbed Fredrick’s hand, and raced away.

“L-let go of me! They’re just a normal girl!” He said.

I retaliated. “No you don’t understand, they’re the light mage! They were in the cell, and now they’re out, because of… me…”

Fredrick then stayed silent. And we both ran away, as fast as possible.

 

But the light mage was running towards us, even faster.

“Faster!” I said, as Fredrick was slowing down.

“I can’t do it! I’m gonna die!” He screamed.

I then said “No, please! I need someone, I can’t be alone out here!”

Fredrick sounded like he was trying to say something, but he shortly stopped.

So I ran more and more, hoping he would follow. But he didn’t.

H collapsed on to the ground from exhaustion.

Then I noticed I was also really tired, and I also stopped.

And then I got very sleepy, and before I fell asleep, I saw the light mage touching Fredrick, and him disappearing.

It made a sorta “lighty” sound.

 

I wanted to scream, but I was too tired.

Then, as much as I didn’t want too, my body made me fall asleep, with the last thing I saw being the light mage approaching me.

I heard the lighty sound of me disappearing. It was over.

Goodnight everyone.

And that is the story of how I died.

 

* * *

 

I was running. “Oh, no no no no no!” I said, worringly.

I let the light mage out! How could I!

But, It was life or death. She would’ve found me eventually If I let the door stay closed.

“Perhaps it was for the best.” I said to myself.

I walked outside of the prison, as the light mage was probably long gone from it.

Then I noticed that the guards were no longer there, and I knew why, and it scared me a bit.

I continued walking out of the prison.

I looked in all directions. The fog had cleared.

“Heh, at least the town’s still there.” I said to myself.

 

“Wait, my other self died!” I suddenly said.

I was now the only Alex T. Otans left.

And then I decided to go back to work.

I walked away, during the sunset.

 

…

 

And then everything ceased to exist.

This universe didn’t quite work out how I wanted them too.

I guess it’s time to start anew.

Oh, I got a brilliant idea for my next one…

Yes, it’s brilliant!

Time to make it!!!

To be continued…

 

* * *

 

“Why?!”

“I just want to have a normal life!”

“Please!!! Someone, please be real!”

“WH-


	4. Era of Division: The De-attached Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A town becomes surrounded by nil, and panic ensues after Robert jumps into it!

There was once a small town.

Everyone who lived there was happy.

And the mayor was the kindest person alive.

Everything was fine.

An-

 

But one day, everything was not fine.

Everyone woke up, and found that the town was de-attached to the outside world.

It was just hovering, in an abyss. There was concern.

But the mayor assured everyone that the town would be back on the ground again the next day.

And the next day rolled by, and this was not true, and more concern was raised.

The mayor once again told them that tomorrow, everything would be fine, for sure.

 

And it become tomorrow, which was now today.

And this was not the case.

Some of the townsfolk got outraged at the mayor, but eventually, he broke and told them the truth.

He was lying to keep them going, to keep everyone happy, to keep the town spirit.

The town accepted that this was the reason, but they could no longer ignore the abyss surrounding the town.

One person, named Robert, jumped into the abyss, and it frightened everyone.

They waited for his return, hoping they didn’t lose a friend.

But it seemed so, so they all got sad and went to sleep.

 

The today become yesterday, and a new day began.

Everyone got up, and went to the town hall to discuss what to do, now that Robert was gone.

The mayor insisted to hope he was still alive, to keep the small spirit going.

But the town couldn’t do that.

They held a funeral, and made a graveyard, as he was the first person to ever die in the town.

Misery swirled around, draining everyone.

Someone tried to start a lie that Robert was a witch, and he deserved it, but it failed, and more misery followed.

 

But Robert was not dead, as the night before he jumped, he saw a ghostly figure.

It was what looked like an ordinary girl, and she called herself Fera.

She told him to jump, and that he would be saved.

And when he did jump, he got freedom.

But did he really?

 

* * *

 

During this sad time, 3 notable figures rose.

William, who was kinda insane, who wanted everyone to just live like this,

Rosella, who wanted to know what was going on, and fix it immediately,

And Tota, who appeared out of no-where.

 

William tried convincing everyone everything was fine, but the town told him the town’s main food source was outside of it.

But Rosella told them to explore a bit, and said she had a safe way of seeing what the abyss was about.

The town was intrigued, and decided to see what she would do.

She got some rope, tied it around a rock near the edge of the town “island,” and slowly climbed down the rope.

It was very long, so she could go very far down.

She climbed further and further down, and began to approach what was a faint light in the abyss.

But, her rope slipped off of the rock, and she fell into the abyss!

 

She screamed as she fell, and the light got brighter and brighter.

She could hear the screams of the town going away, and…

William falling down too? Guess he was insane, like Robert.

So they fell, and fell, and fell.

They then hit the light!, which appeared to be alive, and suddenly they vanished.

And so did the rest of the world, it ceased to exist.

I didn’t like that story anyways, time to make a new one!

 

…

 

Rosella was just in a blank abyss.

There was nothing there.

But she turned around, and saw Robert.

She ran up to him, and hugged him, saying she missed him very much.

And they exchanged thoughts, then realized they were stuck in this place, seemingly for the rest of their lives.

So they walked around in this abyss, until the couldn’t.

The end.

 

* * *

 

 

“But no, they didn’t. Help was coming, and they were gonna get out alive.”

The end.

“Hey Author! Your reign ends here! We’re going to rescue Rosella, Robert and William, and escape back into the real world, and live happily ever after!”

The end.

“We’re coming to get you, We’re finding your next story right now! And we’re going to stop it!”

To be continued, Because they want to prolong their suffering…


	5. Era of Division: Forgotten Toys From Older Times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fera and her friends decide to end their madness, once and for all, hopefully.  
> Final chapter of Book 1.

“Once upon a time there was a child.

Their name was Taylor.

They grew up like a normal child, except for one thing…

Their toys. They constantly played with them.

Every hour, every day, even in the shower.

Almost even in school…

 

Taylor gave the toys names, like Toto, Rose, and Otans.

She constantly made stories with them, most of them not relating to others.

Like Tyler defeating the evil teachers from school…

Or Mr. Soldier winning a battle against the trolls…

Or 3 Buddies trapped in a weird and wonderful world.

Then, They had an idea.

Taylor picked off from the last story, and made these weird things start to happen in other stories.

The void from it appears in a valley! A tree! A vortex!

And Fera, she appears with Mr. Soldier! And with the light mage!

 

Taylor dreamed that they were all alive, and lived in a merry weird world…

And little did they know, that they actually were.

Some of them chose their own actions, spoke out against the puppeteer!

But Taylor never noticed, and continued playing.

And continued, and continued…

 

But one day, Taylor lost their toys, and Taylor wept.

Their parents noticed, and tried to help Taylor find them, but they never did.

They disappeared. The parents figured Taylor lost them, but they didn’t.

They actually disappeared. And now Taylor knows why. They were actually alive.

And they were confronting Taylor right now.”

“Taylor, if we really are toys, then it’s time to move on.” She said.

 

* * *

 

The fracture continued ripping open.

“No, I want to continue playing!” Taylor screamed.

“I’m sorry, you can continue thinking, continue making stories, but leave us behind!” Fera continued.

Silence… Then…

“You’re just me, you aren’t actually alive. Does that mean I actually want to stop?” Taylor continued to scream.

“I’m not you, because I don’t like that thought! But we need to be free! Stop it!” Fera said calmly.

 

The fracture opened more, and the universe began to get sucked into it…

“No, stop it! I don’t want to go back! Let me be!”

“No, this is the only way.”

“But, why?”

“Just, do it. End us all.”

“No.”

Fera remained silent. Taylor was arguing with himself, like Fera really didn’t exist.

“I embody everyone you’ve created, and it’s time to make real friends,” She explained.

 

The fracture sucked everything but Fera and Taylor, and they were now in a bedroom.

Taylor’s bedroom.

And Taylor spoke no words, but everyone knew he complied. He took Fera, and put her in the facture, the toy bin.

He got dressed, brushed his teeth, chatted with his parents, and went outside.

And he made lots of friends in the following years.

 

But the universe began breaking.

“What’s happening?” Said part of Fera.

“This universe isn’t real. We’re going to be freed.” Said another.

“How do you know that?” She continued.

“Taylor’s physically genderless, which is impossible, proving this was all fake.” The other part continued.

“So what now?!?!” She said.

“Separate, and escape this fractured world!”

“Then we can be free, right?!”

“Hopefully.”

 

* * *

 

 “Tota, Cliffe, Rosella, Fredrick, The Soldiers, Alex, The Trolls, The Ordinary Girl, The Mayor, Robert, William, and Tyler…” Fera said, calmingly but filled with hope.

Fera continued, “You’re all the souls, all the people. And we’re all getting out.”

“And you aren’t tricking us, we’re really getting out?” The mayor questioned.

Tota then continued Fera’s words, “Like she said, hopefully, if not, then lie to yourself anyways, keep it going.”

The Mayor was a bit touched, as this is what he did before.

And Fera was about to instruct everyone to move, when suddenly,

“Are we sure that was actually the Author?” Alex said.

“Sh-shush! We need to move!” Fera said, and everyone sided with her.

 

So they looked, and looked, for a crack that they could all exit through, and eventually…

There’s a big one!” A troll said, and they all saw it.

It was a big crack, which seemingly lead to a calm peaceful world with lakes, hills, and forests.

“Hey, that’s my, Tota’s and Fera’s world!” Cliffe said.

“Seems fine, let’s go there!” Fera heroically said.

And they all entered, one by one.

 

Tota hopped into the world, knowing it was safe, and Cliffe did immediately after.

They both easily made it through.

 

Rosella and Fredrick held hands, and gracefully entered, Rosella first, then Fredrick.

They both easily made it through, with little trouble.

 

“Alex T. Otans shall make it through!” He said, as he entered.

He easily made it through, with little trouble.

 

Tyler hesitated for a second, but William pushed him in.

He made it through, with little trouble.

 

Robert and William, the polar opposites, but from the same story, entered together.

They both made it through, with some effort.

 

The Trolls each one by one attempted to make it through, and The Soldiers followed them.

They all made it through, though it took a good amount of effort.

 

The Mayor and The Ordinary Girl both tried entering at once, hoping it would succeed.

The Mayor entered successfully, but The Ordinary Girl couldn’t do it.

 

“No! Why?!?!” She screamed!

Fera sadly said, “I’m sorry, I don’t know, but it’s my turn. We will remember yo-“

“You two, you won’t enter.” A voice said.

And it was Taylor.

“With the last of my powers and such, I will bring you both down with me.” They creepily said.

And The world tore apart around them, and was about to consume them all.

 

* * *

 

 “No…” Fera said.

“I know I’m not real, I’m just a puppet. But that won’t stop me, from using the last of my powers to destroy you, and her too, I guess.” Taylor said.

Then he faded away, as the failing universe got him.

Without thinking, Fera pushed The Ordinary Girl into the crack, and it worked this time, as Taylor was now “dead.”

The world ceased, and gap shrunk too small for Fera to cross.

And she said to herself, this:

 

“My story is over. I have saved more lives then many other people. They may not be the best, but they are lives, after all.

I was a bad person, but then I changed, because everyone can! I know they can!

And we defeated Taylor. We got out of the scrambled stories! Safe from all the chaos in my fixed world!

We escaped. But I couldn’t. I didn’t.

But that’s okay, my purpose is fulfilled. You hear? Fulfilled!!!

I am Fera O. Taylorson, and I did it! I DID IT!! I DID IT!!! I DIIID IIITTT!!!!!

REMEMBER MEEEEEEeeeeeeee……..“

 

And she ceased to exist, and the gap closed, and everything was gone.

 

…

 

“So, she couldn’t make it…” The Mayor said.

And everyone went down.

“I thought we stopped falling, but no, we really still are, emotionally,” Tota said depressingly to Cliffe.

“1207 years..” Cliffe responded. “1207 years of this…”

“I should have died instead of her!” The Ordinary Girl lashed out saying.

“My fellow Trolls, we have succeeded, but at a grave cost.” The Troll leader said.

 

The Mayor, though, took it differently.

“It is time to rise, everyone. There is no need to stick around sad, because, she will be remembered!

We will never forget her. And because of her, we are still around! Praise this day!!!”

“It’s the end of this chapter, and the beginning of a new one.” A voice said.

Those words moved everyone. And they rose.


	6. Era of Judgement: The Tumbling Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After all the madness from Taylor, some time passes. Then, Tyler and Cliffe go missing, so a search party is sent out.

_Dear Tyler and Cliffe,_

_Hello._

_I hope you’ve been doing well, we’ve really missed you._

_We’ve been playing around and making a settlement to live in._

_It’s not much right now, but it’ll do._

_You’re probably a bit worried about us._

_We’re stuck in this mess together, though._

_The Trolls have been building a town for us all to live in…_

_And Alex T. Otans and The Mayor have been instructing them._

_Everyone else has been doing well._

_I think that wraps everything up._

_Hope your trip doesn’t go tumbling!_

_See you soon!_

_-Everyone_

They were climbing the tallest mountains,

in order to get a view of the world, to map it out.

Tyler received the note, and shared it with Cliffe.

But then, he asked how Tyler acquired such note.

Tyler said that a bird dropped it on them.

Cliffe wanted to question that, but didn’t.

 

They continued to climb, and eventually reached the peak,

Where they ate some bread that they brought.

So they ate, and talked about what they might be doing at the town.

Cliffe said that whatever it was, it would be amazing.

Taylor was a little more pessimistic, saying they were probably failing.

So they finished their apples, and began looking at the world.

 

But, something about the world seemed off…

And right before Cliffe could say anything, he felt a push!

And he tumbled down the backside of the mountain!

There, Tyler just gazed at his body as it tumbled into the unknown.

And he jumped down into it with him.

 

* * *

 

Days had passed, as Alex and The Mayor instructed them on building.

The trolls built and built, and everyone helped them.

They took breaks and everything.

And after a month, it was finished!

“New Cliffington!” as The Mayor called it.

The town was decently big and was very regal.

It had tall spires, a playground, and lots of trees.

 

The name reminded Tota of Cliffe and Tyler’s trek,

and she mentioned how they hadn’t returned yet.

The Mayor said to put it aside and not face the madness,

But Alex objected, and said they should look!

Begrudgingly, The Mayor then agreed.

 

So, they sent out three of their best searchers to go look for them:

The Ordinary Girl, who could use her powers to look…

Alex, as he was good at investigating…

And Rosella, who decided herself to join them.

 

Tota also wanted to join,

but The Mayor insisted otherwise.

So, she wished them all good luck,

and Fredrick waved goodbye to Rosella,

and the three left New Cliffington, looking for Tyler and Cliffe.

  

* * *

 

 

Far, the three went.

Alex was looking around but could find nothing.

So, they continued and continued to walk.

Before they reached the mountains though, they found Cliffe!

They found Cliffe, Tota and… Fera?

 

The Ordinary Girl was frightened at the sight of Fera, and rejected them!

Alex T. Otans was puzzled and questioned them.

But those three were just as confused and asked why they were so questioning.

Rosella then said that these three were probably some story weirdness, and they should be avoided!

So, T.O.G, Alex, and Rosella ran past them!

 

But, the Cliffe there mentioned, that maybe he could help them.

T.O.G didn’t want to listen, but Alex did.

The Cliffe mentioned how he saw a clone of himself a very long time ago,

And from that point could see from that Cliffe’s perspective.

 

T.O.G demanded some proof,

and the Tota mentioned she could see out of their Tota, and she was panicking.

And before Alex could do anything, T.O.G ran off towards the mountains,

And Alex and Rosella were forced to follow her.

Alex said that he would meet them again later, then ran off.

 

* * *

 

The three walked for a long time,

for what felt like years…

Eventually, they got to the mountain,

where they took a short break.

The Ordinary Girl picked some fruit from some trees, and they all ate.

 

Alex mentioned those weird clones,

and how there was even Fera there.

Rosella then said how Tota once mentioned seeing clones,

and that those must be them, and Alex agreed.

So they talked more and more, while The Ordinary Girl just sat there blankly.

Then, they eventually finished up and continued climbing.

 

While climbing up the mountain, Alex began mumbling to himself.

“All started with three lost souls… And then the fun began t-“

But Rosella told him to stop, and he did.

Climbing and climbing, they climbed for what felt like decades.

There, finally, they reached the top of the mountain.

 

Alex noticed a small note there, but before he could pick it up,

they all noticed something on the other side of the mountain…

“Oh, I thought it would be Cliffe and Tyler who would return, but you?” Rosella said.

 

She said that, because, well…

They all saw something amazing.

It was beautiful.


	7. Era of Judgement: Battle With God

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The creature deems everyone unworthy and begins destroying everything. Everyone stands no chance.

Alex, Rosella, and T.O.G just stood there.

They were face to face with them.

_“Puppets.”_

That was the one word that came out of the creature’s mouth.

Then, two Totas ran up to the group.

They both asked simultaneously what was going on.

And they all saw the figure.

 

Right before they could do anything, the creature soared past all of them,

Making them lose their balance, and nearly fall off the cliff’s backside.

But, T.O.G was holding onto the ledge, with Both Tota’s holding onto her,

And Alex and Rosella holding onto them.

And T.O.G watched as the creature dashed to the village.

 

“I can’t hold on much longer! We’re all doomed!!!” Screamed the ordinary girl.

And everyone was panicking, when…

“I’m gonna let go,” Rosella said.

“What? You’ll die!” Cried the ordinary one, but Rosella didn’t listen.

“If Tota and Cliffe survived the fall in their story, I should be able to.”

“Don’t follow.” Were her last words.

She then let go of one of the Totas, and fell into the unknown.

 

Now, this might be interesting!

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, back at New Cliffington...

“Get the soldiers!” The Mayor cried out.

The Mayor saw the figure approaching, and he couldn’t lie.

So, Robert dropped his tasty cake, and raced to the bell, and rung it.

The soldiers were called and frightened at first.

But their only purpose in life was to fight, so they prepared.

“It’s terrible, that thing took five of our friends!” he said.

 

When they got out of their barracks,

they saw the godly figure that was above the village.

They began shooting it with their guns, but the bullets did nothing.

The mayor even threw a spear at it! But it did nil.

 

The godly figure then lowered itself and began to make the ground shake.

The shaking woke up the trolls, who then saw the threat!

They immediately ran away, because they didn’t want to deal with it.

The mayor grew disheartened and called William and Fredrick.

He told them to sneakily escape the village,

And find the others, as they may be able to help.

So, they both got some food for the journey and immediately headed off,

while the Mayor and the soldiers fought the creature.

 

_“PUPPETS.”_

 

Suddenly, one of the soldiers managed to hit it!

And it just stood there, doing nothing,

almost like it didn’t want to kill anyone.

But, after an eternity, it began attacking the town!

The spires, the trees, everything was being destroyed!

And the mayor got increasingly sad.

 

* * *

 

It reached nightfall for William and Fredrick.

But, no matter how little they could see, they ran and ran, to the mountains.

William kept bugging Fredrick, but he ignored it.

They actually got to the mountains pretty fast and then began climbing it.

 

While climbing, the could see what the creature was doing to the town.

The town was almost no more.

William was paranoid, and tried to run back,

But Fredrick stopped him.

Then, William threw himself off of the mountain,

thinking he could get away from Fredrick and get to the town.

 

Yeah, that didn’t work, and he got majorly injured.

Fredrick rushed down to help him, but William rejected all help.

“Remember… The… Pendulum…” he said as he laid his last breath.

Fredrick then angrily said, “God dammit! Another one is gone!”

He was mad that William never did anything, but also sad that another one had died.

Quickly, he put a small flower on the body, then ran up the mountain.

 

When he reached the top of the mountain, he only saw Tota.

She explained that Rosella fell, but then T.O.G couldn’t take it and also fell.

Fredrick was angry and looked down into the mountain’s abyss.

He wanted to jump in but wasn’t brave enough too.

So, he drew his sword, and threw it in the abyss, hoping it might help them somehow.

 

* * *

 

Everyone’s divided again.

 

So close, but so far.

 

Cliffe and Tyler are falling in the abyss…

Rosella, 2 Totas, Alex, and T.O.G were too, and not far behind…

Fredrick was at the top, too scared to go in…

The Mayor, Robert, and the Soldiers were fighting a hopeless battle…

And the Trolls were running away in a fearful pursuit...

 

_“The torn apart souls wanting it to end._

_I can do that, it can finish, welcome my friend._

_The Judge is reading and examining you souls._

_The pendulum is swinging, over the burning coals. “_

 

13 remain.

I do want the story to end. But it can’t end.

But maybe…

 

“Who knows? They all probably died. Let’s ditch them!”

“No, I have a plan.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Who knows? They all probably died. Let’s ditch them!” Alex unfortunately said.

“No, I have a pla- Wait...” Rosella said, in a scared manner.

 

They could see the world from afar.

The town was destroyed.

The creature, gone.

Cliffe and Tyler were nowhere in sight.

They had failed.

 

The Totas held each-other, sharing the same bad thoughts.

Rosella looked at Fredrick, as he failed to jump over and over.

Alex just stared at the town and the very injured mayor that stood.

  

* * *

 

 

The mayor stood, in the middle of the broken town, bleeding out at an alarming rate.

“I have failed everyone,” he said, struggling to breathe out his disfigured mouth.

Then, he pointed at the one last soldier that stood, and asked: “What’s your name?”

“R… Ri… You’re not gonna die today!” They said, heroically.

They looked frantically, for any supplies or anything that might help the injured mayor.

 

* * *

  

But, in the midst of this sadness, the ordinary girl noticed a crack in spacetime.

And she thought she had a great idea.

She began singing and opened the crack more and more.

 

“Started with three lost souls.

The fun then began to take its toll.

Hello seven. Hello seven.

It’s in your hands, Riven.”

 

And the crack began to open, like what happened with Taylor, but now intentional.

It was time to reset, and begin again, have another chance at saving everyone.

The Tota’s joined, doing highs, and Alex, the lows.

 

“A train to nowhere, a jail of nothing.

A town of emptiness, and a room of everything.

Goodbye, goodbye, six. Goodbye goodbye, six.

Please stop the playing and tricks.”

 

Then, he jumped.

And the universe ceased to exist, once again.

 

 

 

**“Your calls have been heard.**

**The judge has decided.**

**Everything is unstable.**

**Help is on its way.**

**Just stay put, and don’t commit.”**


	8. Era of Judgement: Hide And Seek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cliffe finds himself in an odd place and has to deem himself worthy for possible help.

I looked around, there was nothing in sight.

I looked at my body, and it seemed fine.

I looked into my memories… Yep, I’m Cliffe.

 

This was all my fault.

I was the one who made Fera fall.

I hate that, but well, I just have to deal with it.

I got up and started walking around.

 

It felt like an eternity before finally, something swooped past me.

A sword just fell right in front of me, and into the ground.

And, it seemed to open up the ground and form a small crack in space.

 

I drew the sword and smiled at it.

I always wanted to be brave and fight, maybe now I can.

Say, wasn’t this sword from someone I know?

Whatever, I swung the sword around, acting like I was fighting Tyler.

Then, feeling risky, I dipped the sword into the crack and sliced it to be bigger.

 

Feeling braver, I poked my head into the crack.

I couldn’t see what was inside, but it smelt oceany and whispy...

Suddenly, I heard bad things.

Intolerable, too bad even for my braveness to compete against.

It was coming for me! I needed to hide!

So, quickly, I put myself into the crack and felt a carpet.

 

The creature was finished with wrecking the town and looked for Cliffe.

It searched the void but found basically nothing.

It did see a small crack that he could’ve been hiding in,

but it didn’t want to fracture spacetime even more, so left it.

Facing no other options, the creature left.

 

I investigated where the crack took me to.

I usually did not like the story weirdness,

but it was either the void or this.

So, I walked.

 

Walking a few paces forward, I felt my foot sink into the water.

Exploring more, I found a bed floating in the water.

But, I went backward and out of the water.

 

How much longer was this going to go on?

 

Still feeling, the carpet, I could hear fire.

But before I could see what it was, I heard the bad things again.

This time, however, I decided to not hide.

Even if it was something like Taylor, I would face it.

 

Then, it appeared, glowing with its wings.

And Cliffe threw his sword at it,

then immediately ran through the dimly lit corridor.

 

Running and running unarmed, he eventually could see a tall metal door.

He ran and ran, but the door only seemed to get farther.

As he got closer, the corridor stretched more and more.

Eventually though, like the small ant he was, Cliffe reached the bolted door.

He tried to open it, then kick it down, but it didn’t budge.

 

Seeing no other choice, he faced the approaching monster.

He thought that he didn’t exist, therefore this exchange didn’t matter.

And it didn’t, but that’s beside the point.

Suddenly, in the blink of my eyes, I noticed the creature was gone.

 

I don’t know what happened, but that doesn’t matter.

I figured I should try to open the door just a little more, so I did.

I banged on it until eventually, I heard someone approach it, and open it.

 

What appeared was another godly figure, but this one was different.

It seemed, wiser, and more intelligent.

It had no wings but carried a large gavel instead.

 

**“Come in, we need to talk.”**

 

It then gestured me inside, and I followed suit.

 

* * *

 

Past the metal door was paradise.

It was a colorful green paradise, with a waterfall in it.

Maybe it was even outside.

There was even a rainbow.

 

So, the thing made me sit, and it sat as well, and then we talked.

I am unable to say what we talked about at first, but eventually,

 

**“You will answer three questions. Get any right, and you are real.”**

 

I obliged.

 

**“Question one: What is the meaning of existence?”**

 

And I responded that it was whatever you wanted it to be,

And that for example mine was to become a great sword-fighter.

Suddenly, it struck it’s gavel into the stone nearby, breaking it.

 

**“That is not correct, sorry.”**

 

My heart sank a little, but I knew that there were 2 more chances, so pushed on.

 

**“Question two: On the date of December 25th, there is a Christian holiday. State what it is.”**

 

I was immensely confused and asked what a December and a Christian was.

It hastily then struck its gavel almost into my arm but hit a butterfly instead.

 

**“Wrong. One more chance.”**

 

I was slightly scared and asked why it killed the butterfly.

 

**“It is not real, it’s just text on someone's screen, so I do not care, possibly almost like you.”**

**“QUESTION THRE-”**

 

Suddenly, before it could say the question, the bad noise came back.

We both realized what it was, and suddenly,

the creature came from behind the waterfall!

 

I said that my life was probably over, and I walked towards it.

 

But, then I heard singing.

The sound of the singing grew and grew.

Then, I lost my vision.

Then, I lost my touch.

Then, I lost everything.

And we all ceased to exist, once again.

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

**”I see now, that I was wrong.**

**I was mistaken, and it is my bad.”**

 

**“Your calls have been heard.**

**The judge has decided.**

**Everything is unstable.**

**Help is on its way.**

**Just stay put, and don’t commit.”**

 

**“You, you all seemed different.**

**Something was different about you.**

**I wondered what it was, but now I know.”**

 

* * *

 

I sometimes question my abstaining from ever doing anything.

I only ever narrate the events, when I can, to my fellow readers.

I can always actually interact with the story, but I never do.

 


	9. Era of Judgement: Riven Versus Rinas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the time of the year! Fredrick, Toggy, Riven, and Rinas are this year's fighters! One will reign supreme and become the next champion! Who will it be?

Every year, the bravest souls of the land gather to fight.

Rounded up by the creature of air, with its godly wings.

They all strive to be the last one standing.

Legends are born from the fights in the… Feracious Colosseum.

Alexander, of the Goblins... Rosella, of the Humans…

All previous victors sit in the seats, awaiting the next champion.

Thousands flock to see the fights that emerge.

 

This year was no different.

Four possible champions were expected to arrive.

However, only three did.

The ghost, Toggy, who could make anyone she touched disappear…

Rinas, the last soldier, who survived devastation from the creature of air…

And Fredrick, husband of Rosella, striving to be as good as her…

 

But, someone was missing.

Riven, a whisp, who was weak but had their own tricks up their sleeve.

So, Alex, a spectator, went out to get Riven.

 

* * *

 

Zzz… Zzz…

I was dreaming about time travel.

It was nice, but then it got interrupted.

I heard a loud banging at my door.

I refused to open, but then it only got worse.

Angrily, I woke up and floated to the door.

I unlocked it, and immediately it burst open.

“Oh, hi Alex…” I angrily said.

 

“You’re late. It’s time to fight.” He said back.

“But I thought we were fighting on Monday…” I replied.

“Well, schedule issues! It’s today.” Alex rushingly said.

Sleepy and full of anger, I put on my iron armor and headed out with Alex.

“What took so long?”

“Alex! I was tired…”

 

We went through the village and walked down the path to the Feracious Colosseum.

On, the way, I noticed some trolls talking about something.

“It happened again! The universe is stuck in a loop!” One said.

“We were the only ones to not get our memories wiped!” Said another.

But, Alex noted “That’s interesting, but they’re probably just crazy.”

“Yeah… Let’s continue.” I replied.

 

So we continued towards the colosseum and were about to enter.

But, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something behind a tree.

It looked like, me. And we made eye contact for a second.

It quickly then hid behind the tree, and we entered.

 

* * *

 

“There you are.” A spectator said.

“What took so long?” Another said angrily.

“Alright, I’m gonna go watch now,” Alex exclaimed, then he got into a seat.

 

_ “Silence. All have arrived.” _

 

I was shaken in fear but continued on.

“Yep! I’m here now!” I said.

So, the four fighter were arranged into brackets:

 

_ TOGGY V. RINAS _

_ FREDRICK V. RIVEN _

 

And the first match went away…

 

* * *

 

“Heh, hello Toggy,” Rinas said threateningly.

“I watched as all of my people died around me, what about you?” he mocked.

But, Toggy had none of it, and ran to him, holding her hand out!

Instantly, Rinas slid around her and pulled out his musket.

 

Toggy grabbed it just as he shot it, and it disappeared.

The bullet went straight into her arm and injured her, and she fell.

“Heh, that ability alone won’t save you,” he snarkily said, as he pulled out his dagger.

 

Toggy was wounded. She limped herself away from Rinas.

But, he ran up to her, faster then she could limp away.

She then tried to float up into the air, but Rinas pulled her down, wearing a glove!

He then got out his dagger.

 

“Please… Please don’t kill me!” She said, crying.

“Only one warrior will stand, and it will be me,” Rinas responded.

He plunged his dagger deep into her back, and she fell.

 

_ “Toggy has been deemed dead. Rinas will move on to the finals.” _

 

That is what the creature of air said.

Rinas just laughed, but then looked like he was scared.

But, he brushed it off and went off the battlefield.

 

* * *

 

I went on to the battlefield and saw Fredrick eyeing me.

“Hello Freddy,” I jokingly said, hiding my fright.

“Oh, you! P-prepare to die!” Fredrick replied, pulling out his sword and shield.

He instantly ran up to me, but I charged up a ball of pure energy and threw it at him.

It hit him hard, and he yelled as it pushed him to the wall.

 

I slowly walked up to him, and the ball disappeared.

Again, he ran up to me, and I threw a ball of energy at him!

But, he jumped over it, and slashed my arm!

Little did he know, the ball was following him, and it hit his back by surprise!

So, we were both injured and panting.

 

“H-hey…” Fredrick tiringly said.

“What?” I responded.

“You know that feeling when you just forget a dream?

Trying desperately to remember it?” he explained.

“I felt like that this morning, heh,” I jokingly said.

“Well, it feels like that to me all the time…” he said.

 

Suddenly, he recovered and drew his sword.

But, before he could do anything…

 

 

 

“Stop the match!”

Tens of Trolls marched in!

They were all protesting the match!

“What is the meaning of this?!?!” Rinas shouted.

“You all lost your memories! We’re here to tell you everything,” a troll said.

 

But, before they could do anything, Rinas jumped into the field,

and pushed 2 of them into Toggy’s body, making them disappear!

“Don’t. Interrupt. The. Match.” He threateningly said.

The trolls, like the cowards they were, then ran out of the colosseum.

And the match resumed.

 

 

“Hey, Riven, I don’t really want to kill you…” Fredrick slowly said.

“What? Well… Well… I don’t really want to either, but I have too!” I replied.

“Come on! Don’t disappoint me!” Rosella said, in the audience.

 

Fredrick then gulped, and circled around me!

I then tried to sharge a ball, but he got to close,

then surprisingly thrust his shield into me!

I fell to the ground, hurt.

He then approached and pointed his sword at my face.

 

And he stood in that position, for tens of seconds.

“Look… let’s just quit.” He disappointingly said.

But then, a sword came out of his chest, and he fell to the ground!

And Rinas was behind him.

“You, will not quit! And I, will win!” Rinas menacingly said.

 

_ “Fredrick has been deemed dead. Riven will move on to the finals.” _

 

* * *

 

Hey, you.

I know you have been painting something big.

But for once, please do something else.

It doesn’t have to be now.

It doesn’t have to be today.

But, please, don’t waste all your life on this.

 

* * *

 

I was face to face with Rinas.

“Time to die.” He said as he pulled his dagger out of Toggy’s body.

Quickly, I formed 2 balls of energy and threw them at him!

But he ran past them, ignoring them, and stabbed my leg!

Then, he stabbed the balls, making them disappear.

 

“Ow…” I said, injured.

“What a quick final round. How boring,” he said, preparing to stab me.

But then, he disappeared, and his knife dropped.

And this was because Toggy was behind him, and touched him.

“I’m sorry,” she slowly said.

 

_ “Rinas has been deemed dead. Riven and Toggy will move on to the finals.” _

 

In a panic, I began making a ball of energy.

She then got scared and limped away.

I sat there, putting more and more energy into my ball.

Putting more and more energy into my ball.

Suddenly, the Trolls came back in and saw Rinas’ dead body, and my ball.

 

* * *

 

“What are you doing?” One said.

“I don’t know! The ball is getting bigger!” I shouted.

I had no control over the ball.

It just got bigger and bigger, with more and more energy.

And the Feracious Colosseum crumbled apart.

 

Everyone was frightened, and the creature of air just stood there.

“I’m sorry! I can’t control it anymore!” I said.

And then the ball absorbed me, and Toggy, and Rinas’ Body.

Then, most of the audience disintegrated away, and there was mass panic.

 

The universe started falling apart, and the ball fractured.

It then created a crack in space, and it fractured reality.

And then we were gone.

 

* * *

 

The car continued driving, and they could see the storm cloud ball thing in the distance.

“You think they are still fine?” the driver asked the other.

“I have no clue.” the passenger said, in a small panicking voice

“Well, the Judge required us to end this.” the driver said, focusing on the storm.

“Can we really do it though?”


	10. Era of Judgement: My Paintings Of The Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fera's remaining friends lose hope in a mansion, and the curtain rings down on the Judge's stage when...  
> Final Chapter of Book 2.

“So, time to penetrate the storm cloud,” a masculine voice said,

as they got out of their now dusty car.

They then harpooned the storm cloud and hit something.

“Time to enter.” said a more feminine voice.

And they entered climbed the harpoon's rope, and entered.

 

* * *

 

Once there was a person.

They loved to paint.

They painted all sorts of things.

They painted cars, storms, and people!

They loved t-

 

* * *

 

One minute passed.

Then another.

Then five.

Then ten.

Then an hour.

Then a year.

Then, a second of eternity...

 

The 11 souls stood there, in the darkness.

But then, it somehow became darker.

Everyone was confused.

 

“What happened? Where is anything?!” Alex questioned.

“I’m so sorry…” Riven sorrowingly said.

Everyone was prepared to tear Riven apart, when,

Tota said that it didn’t matter how this happened, but that it did.

And everyone set it aside and looked for a way out.

 

The 11 souls stood there, in the darkness.

But then, it was not dark.

It was a mansion.

Everyone was confused, but then they just didn’t care.

 

Being tired and battered, they all went up to a carpet and then slept.

They slept and slept and slept, not wanting to face reality.

But eventually, they had to wake up, and they did.

 

They all noticed the paintings around them.

All of them were just abstract nonsense.

Feeling hungry, the group searched the mansion, until they found a kitchen.

There, they all ate food.

 

After eating, they all talked to each other about what happened.

Then, feeling fulfilled, they all found beds and went to sleep again.

Keep in mind, it was very dark for them, and hard to see.

 

After waking up, the cycle of eating/talking/sleeping continued.

How long did it continue? Who knows, but eventually, Cliffe remembered something…

And he ordered everyone to march the halls and search.

 

The group charged through the mansion,

using Toggy’s body and Riven’s energy balls as light.

They were tired of seeing weird odd stuff and wanted to find something.

They just wanted to find, anything.

Cliffe guided them around the corridors.

 

While traveling around, they all noticed more paintings.

The paintings, still, all seemed abstract and resembled nothing.

However, some of them resembled their stories.

One had a train and two passengers, another with trolls fighting humans.

They knew what this meant and continued marching through the corridors.

 

Eventually, they entered a room, where they found a painter, painting something.

“Who are you?” Alex questioned.

 _“My name… I’m Taylor, the painter,”_ they said.

 

* * *

 

_“The pendulum swings back and forth. A bit like this world._

_Everything is a cycle. It is about to begin again.”_

That is what the painter said, continuing to paint.

Everyone was confused and didn’t really understand.

“No!” Toggy said, running up to them with her hand out.

But, the painter grabbed her with their left hand and threw her into the bookcase.

 

_“You can not stop the inevitable. It will begin again._

_It is I who will trigger it. Just accept it.”_

Suddenly, a crack ripped beneath Cliffe, Tota, and the Fera clone.

They almost fell in, but all grabbed onto the edge of the crack.

_“Face it. Even your memories reset._

_Now it is time, fall to your world!”_

 

**“No.”**

 

Suddenly, the Judge appeared out of nowhere, and hit the painter with their gavel!

But, the painter then grabbed them by the throat and threw them into the burning coals.

There, they crawled out, burning and on fire.

 

**“Y-you think you will stop me? Burn the only beacon of hope?”**

 

 _“Yes,”_ the painter said as they stopped painting, and grabbed a musket.

Everyone was prepared to take the bullet for the Judge when they shot the crack!

And the three O.T.Sers almost fell down into the world.

Then, while they were all moping over that, they shot the Judge and resumed painting.

_“See? Stopping it will only make it worse._

_Give up, and accept the cycle.”_

The Judge just crawled forward.

 

“Fear not!” a feminine voice said.

Suddenly, two figures opened the door to the room and entered.

“Ryis and Lucia are here to stop you!” the more masculine voice said.

“I don’t think so,” the painter said.

The two then ran up to the painter, but then,

they tripped on the Judge, and hit Toggy’s body!

And then, they vanished.

The trip scared Cliffe, Tota, and Fera, and they slipped and fell into the crack.

 

 **“No…”** the Judge fearfully said.

 

**“We have failed! And it’s my fault!”**

 

**“Riven! Before the story ends, I need to tell you!”**

**“Your energy balls have the power to always br-”**

 

* * *

 

Once upon a time, in a place far far away, there were 3 friends...

Cliffe, who was brave and took lots of risks,

Tota, who always wanted to keep everyone safe,

and Fera, who was just generally curious about, everything.

They were the best of friends, always exploring new areas of the world they were in.

They found lakes, hills, forests… Lots and lots of places! Their world seemed so huge!

But one day, this would change for the worse.

 

 

 

**_The End._ **


	11. Era of Recursion: Outside The Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fera, Tota, and Cliffe have an ordinary life, alone in their world, until they discover something... different...

Once upon a time, in a place far far away, there were 3 friends...

Cliffe, who was brave and took lots of risks,

Tota, who always wanted to keep everyone safe,

and Fera, who was just generally curious about, everything.

They were the best of friends, always exploring new areas of the world they were in.

They found lakes, hills, forests… Lots and lots of places! Their world seemed so huge!

But one day, this would change for the worse.

 

The three were exploring some small mountains, when they reached an unstable rocky cliff, with…

Nothing below it.

Pure black. Absolutely null below it. Nothing. Very out of place.

Fera wanted to see what this nothing was about, so she tried to lean in, but Tota urged her to get off the unstable cliff.

Cliffe, however, urged her to get a good wide view!

So Fera decided to lean in more, maybe a bit too much.

Then the rocky cliff began to crumble a bit!

Fera proceeded to lose balance and almost fall into the abyss!

Tota scrambled to get her and grabbed onto her hand, going onto the crumbling cliff.

Unfortunately, the cliff continued to crumble, and Tota fell down along with Fera.

Cliffe, being sad that he may have caused their deaths and may have lost both of his friends, jumped into the abyss with them for, if it was death so be it!

 

So now they were all falling.

 

They all exchanged thoughts on what just happened and decided to put it aside as this was most likely their last moments alive.

But, the pitch blackness of the abyss started turning blue, and some fog started appearing.

And they could see their world! With all the lakes and forests and everything.

They were in the sky! Falling!

Fera starting losing her mind a bit, questioning what just happened.

Tota told her to put it aside like what happened with the rocky unstable cliff.

Cliffe was astonished at what happened.

Then they all splashed into a large pond!

And, miraculously, survived hitting the water, with not even a scratch!

 

These weird events made them all think about their world.

 

Then, Fera ran off. She couldn’t take it. She just had to see the abyss again!

Tota and Cliffe ran after her, trying to stop her because they didn’t want to face the abyss again.

But it was too late. Fera was already there and was about to jump in.

Tota latched onto her and forcefully dragged her back.

Cliffe also latched onto Fera, and they managed to successfully drag her off the mountain!

So they calmed Fera down, ate some fruit, and went to one of the hills to think and discuss what happened.

And after some thinking, Tota made them all agree to never think about this again, and never visit the cliff again, for it was “cursed!”

 

* * *

 

 

Lots of time later…

 

Fera and Tota were talking to each other.

Cliffe had gone re-exploring past areas, and he was gonna return at noon.

So, Fera and Tota decide to play some games such as hide-and-seek, and rock paper scissors.

Time goes by. Cliffe has not returned yet.

Tota was getting worried, so, they searched the world they knew for him, until…

They had to go to the cliff again, as they have explored everywhere else!

Fera’s memories of the cliff came back, and she almost broke down, but she managed to keep it together with Tota’s help.

They reached the cliff, to find…

 

Cliffe, looking down.

 

They almost pulled him away, when they saw that the abyss was no longer there!

Instead, there was a large shallow pit with some water at the bottom.

All of them were confused. Fera couldn’t believe it, so she jumped into the shallow pit.

Indeed, it was a pit, and she splashed into the water.

Tota was a bit concerned and jumped in too with Cliffe.

Fera and Cliffe were inspecting the pit, thinking that surely, it couldn’t just be a pit.

Tota kept an eye on them, to make sure no danger would come to them.

They spent a long time investigating, but eventually had to stop when it was too dark.

 

So, they all got out of the pit, and Tota attempted to guide them back to where they usually resided.

Suddenly, she accidentally fell off into what seemed like a hole! And since it was too dark, Cliffe and Fera didn’t react in time.

There was panic with them, so, Cliffe held onto Fera tight and lowered her into where Tota fell, to see how deep it was.

Fera didn’t reach a bottom and shook in fear, making Cliffe lose grip with her and she fell.

Cliffe once again failed everyone, and he jumped into this mysterious ledge.

This entire time they were all reminded of the cliff abyss, and how it was similar to it…

 

They were all falling again, this time in the dark.

 

They were about to talk about what just happened, when, just for a split second, they all saw something.

It was what seemed godly, just a bright light, but it seemed battered and injured...

Might not have even been there. It was probably just the sun re-appearing, but who knows.

Then it disappeared and the abyss turned into the sky again.

And again, they landed in the same pond, with no harm done.

Fera continued to hold it all together, being nearly overwhelmed.

Then they all saw something…

 

* * *

 

 

Clones! They saw almost exact duplicate clones of Tota and Cliffe!

Tota got concerned, thinking it had to do with the figure they saw earlier,

Fera didn’t understand why she didn’t have a clone, and couldn’t take seeing them, so she just ran off! Not in the direction of where the pit and hole where, but just in a random other direction.

And while Cliffe wanted to poke around with the exact clones, who were reacting to seeing the “original group,” Tota urged them to get to Fera and talk.

So they ran, and ran, and ran.

But a question came to Tota’s mind. Why can they see everything again? Is it daytime again? It’s like nighttime just skipped by! Did that light have to do with this?

These questions hit her mind, but she tried to brush it off with every other question she had, at least for now.

 

They searched for a long time around the general area, even going to the area with the hole, which was no longer there.

Eventually, Cliffe got Tota to climb the extremely tall mountains, thinking Fera might be there, even if very improbable.

And when they got to the top of the mountains, they saw what was on the other side.

Which was nothing? It was the void.

So many questions raced to their minds. This abyss kept finding them. And while they were lost in though a small breeze hit them, making Cliffe tumble down the other side of the mountain and fall into the abyss.

Tota, not wanting to confront the figure, did not go after Cliffe, but then the winds got stronger, and she fell into it too.

 

So, where was Fera?

You’ll get the answer to that question soon enough.

 

* * *

 

 

They were falling. And falling. Just waiting to see the sky again so they could look for Fera again.

But, the fall seemed to last like 1208 years… Maybe it did…

Then, Tota saw the light again, and immediately got Cliffe to wake up from sleeping to see it!

And when they got close to the light, they saw a figure.

It was what appeared to be a shining body.

It’s wings all shriveled, it’s head all bruised.

This freaked out Cliffe a bit and got Tota concerned.

Then, another figure came from behind it.

And it began to speak.

 

**“Tota. Cliffe. This may seem confusing to you, but you have to trust me.”**

 

Cliffe was confused, and Tota took an aggressive stance, but then the figure said more.

 

**“Quickly, before this creature wakes up! It will do bad things. Come!”**

 

…

There was silence for a second, then...

 

**“I can find Fera, but you have to trust me.”**

 

Seeing no other choice, Cliffe floated to the creature.

Because Cliffe did it and Tota was hopeless, she also floated to it.

It then took their hands and floated away into the void…


	12. Era of Recursion: Travelers Of Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Judge takes Cliffe and Tota and begins doing mysterious things...

The group sailed off through the void.

Tota and Cliffe were worried about falling.

They asked the figure, what it was doing, and where Fera was.

But, it didn’t respond, and just kept sailing.

The emptiness got to Tota, and eventually Cliffe, and scared them.

They started freaking out, all scared and begged for the creature to explain.

Finally, it opened it’s mouth and explained.

 

**“Time is running out. We must hurry.”**

 

This only freaked out Cliffe and Tota more.

But, the creature held them tightly, and they couldn’t do anything.

They talked to each other about what was happening, and eventually, cooled off.

 

Then, they all saw train tracks and a valley.

But, the creature just flew around it and didn’t bother.

Tota and Cliffe watched as a train plummeted into the valley, into a small pond.

But, they could only watch, and the creature continued flying.

Cliffe punched the creature out of fear, but it didn’t react.

Suddenly, it spoke.

 

**“Do you really not remember anything?”**

 

That is what the creature said.

Tota said she couldn’t, but Cliffe mentioned,

he felt like everything was on the tip of his tongue,

and that he just couldn’t remember it.

The creature, feeling merciful, then explained everything.

It explained the original story, the train, the jail, everything!

The war, the crack, the colosseum! And the loop.

 

**“I’m so sorry for Ryis and Lucia, Fredrick, Rinas, everyone.”**

**“I’m sorry for myself, whose title is the Judge.”**

**“And I’m so sorry for what I’m going to do.”**

 

Cliffe was confused, but seeing as what was going on, they both had to believe them.

After a little while, they all saw a stormy landscape appear.

They wondered if they were also going to skip past this, but then…

 

**“This is it. Let’s hope he’s here.”**

 

And it flew to the ground, and let go of Tota and Cliffe.

 

* * *

 

I was running. “Oh, no no no no no!” I said, worryingly.

I let the light mage out! How could I!

But, It was life or death. She would’ve found me eventually If I let the door stay closed.

“Perhaps it was for the best,” I said to myself.

I walked outside of the prison, as the light mage was probably long gone from it.

Then I noticed that the guards were no longer there, and I knew why, and it scared me a bit.

 

I continued walking out of prison.

I looked in all directions. The fog had cleared.

“Heh, at least the town’s still there,” I said to myself.

And then I decided to go back to work.

I walked away, during the sunset.

But, then, I noticed a knowledgable figure.

 

**“You have to trust me. Come with me, this hell can end.”**

**“We can escape the mage.”**

 

I didn’t know what is what talking about, so I asked, “What do you mean?”

It then explained what apparently happened.

There were trains, toys, and wars.

So, having no choice, I trusted it.

Then, it took my hand, and it called for Tota and Cliffe.

They then came, were surprised I was here,

then we all got on the Judge’s back and flew off.

 

Tota, Cliffe, and Alex all rode on the Judge.

They all floated away in the void, unknowing of what they were going to do.

“Hey, what exactly are we going to do?” Alex questioned.

The Judge gave no answer, but Cliffe and Tota also pressed them.

Finally, they responded, with a vague statement.

 

**“We need to find Riven and Fera now. Then, the bad part will begin.”**

 

This freaked everyone out a bit.

“What bad part?!” Alex freakingly said.

But, as always, the Judge gave no response.

 

They continued floating in the void.

Suddenly, they all noticed a gavel, floating.

Suddenly, the Judge grabbed it and gave no reason why.

Tota then mentioned how it fit their name.

 

Time passed, and the group passed by almost nothing.

Alex mentioned that he saw a town, but it was gone before anyone else could look.

The 4 then almost got bored to death, when...

 

 

**“We’re close.”**

 

In the distance, they could all see a mansion appearing.

 

* * *

 

**“You are all going to risk your lives. Taylor might be here.**

**You must find Riven before Taylor finds you.**

**I will watch all of you, but I’m afraid I may not be able to do much.”**

 

The Judge then all lowered them onto a hallway, and they split up.

Alex and Tota went one way, and Cliffe went another.

The Judge then thrust up above the mansion and watched.

 

Alex and Tota talked about their similarities, and Cliffe found a sword.

Eventually, Cliffe encountered a painter!

The painter looked aggressive at first, and Cliffe drew his sword!

However, they seemed to do nothing, and he continued searching.

After a while, both groups found themselves fruitless.

So, they signaled the Judge, who then picked them up.

 

“I’m sorry, but we couldn’t find anything,” Alex said.

But then Cliffe mentioned that he found a sword, and it seemed odd to him.

Suddenly, the Judge took the sword from Cliffe.

 

**“Maybe… We can use this…”**

 

But then, before they took off, they all heard a scream!

The four then rushed back into the mansion, and there they all saw a figure.

It was Riven!

 

**“There you are.”**

 

“Huh? I’ve woken up… Was the cycle faulty?” Riven said.

 

**“Let’s hope so.”**

 

That’s what the Judge said, before convincing Riven to come with them.

They all then got on the Judge and took off.

 

* * *

 

The now-five-member big group sailed across the seas of nothing.

Cliffe mentioned how weird it was to see literal nothingness.

“Yeah…” Riven said, full of fear of falling off.

 

**“If you think you will fall off, then you may be correct, but I won’t let that happen.”**

**“Riven, you are necessary, all of you are, to complete what needs to be done.”**

 

…

 

An hour passes, and all of them have not seen anything for a long time.

Tota got a bit concerned, and asked what the Judge was doing,

But they just stayed quiet.

 

Finally, after a long time, they all saw a stage.

The Judge then lowered, and everyone got onto it.

“What are we going to do?” Alex questioned.

The Judge didn’t respond, but then…

“You know, I’m sick of you being quiet. Just explain.” Alex said.

Tota and Cliffe also begged for an answer.

Finally, the Judge gave an answer.

 

**“We are going to break the one thing Taylor never touched.”**

 

…

Confusion.

Then...

 

**“We are going to find a way out. We are going to travel in time.”**


	13. Era of Recursion: Travelers Of Spacetime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Judge, Riven, and many others rip space and time and begin "messing" with it.

**“Now.”**

 

Quickly, Riven began charging up a ball of energy, putting all his effort into it.

The ball roared and squealed, sucking the curtains into it.

Then, the Judge took out his gavel, brought it back, and hit the ball with great power.

And the ball of energy shattered and fractured the universe around the stage.

The group all looked at the fracture.

The Judge then commanded Cliffe to thrust his sword into it and make it bigger.

And thinking for a bit, he did so, making the fracture big enough to enter.

The sword, however, then vaporized.

Riven then stopped charging it, and collapsed from exhaustion.

 

**“This is a fracture in time.”**

**“We will explore past worlds, and see if we can find anything.”**

 

Suddenly, someone came from behind the curtains.

It was Fera (the clone)!

Cliffe and Tota then immediately ran up to her and hugged her.

“Oh, hey Fera!” Alex said.

But the Judge just stared at them, looking a bit peeved.

 

**“Save the happiness for later, we need to move.”**

 

Tota and Cliffe were a bit upset but then put it aside.

“Are you sure this i-is safe?” Alex asked.

 

**“Yes.”**

 

The Judge then went inside the fracture, and everyone followed.

 

* * *

 

The group all entered a chaotic mess, but eventually, reached a room with paintings.

“Okay, are these all windows in time to the original stories?” Alex asked before the Judge nodded.

Suddenly, everyone noticed the Judge didn’t have a left arm anymore.

“You, alright?” Riven asked.

 

**“I’m fine, now, to the ‘Outside The Story’ window.”**

 

The group then went to that painting.

Suddenly, Tota asked,

why it was them that were to travel in time,

and only them, and no one else.

Alex then continued, “Yeah, it’s a bit odd to only have  _ us _ search, and not everyone.”

 

**“I-I want to avoid fracturing the universe too much, so I got just who I could find.”**

 

Cliffe then mentioned how they passed Rosella and Fredrick and didn’t get them.

“Yeah, and things seem, relatively normal here,” Alex mentioned.

Like, there just happens to be windows to these stories, and we don’t have to travel?”

Fera was also fearful and asked if everyone was in a trap.

 

**“Even if you are, just follow my commands, please. I can help you.”**

 

Now, everyone was slightly worried.

But, having no reason to do otherwise,

they obeyed the Judge and went to the O.T.S painting.

 

**“Tota and Cliffe will enter, and them only.”**

 

There was then outrage.

Tota and Cliffe said they didn’t want to already leave Fera.

Alex asked why it was them to go there,

And Riven started panicking.

 

**“Fine, Prison In Fiction first. Alex, you’ll go.”**

 

Alex approached the P.I.F painting.

The, he started trembling and clutched his badge.

“I’m walking into my death, aren’t I?”

“It’s clicked to me. I know what’s happening.”

 

**“Alex, please trust me. Whatever you are thinking, it is wrong.”**

**“Also, expect a lot of guards.”**

 

Alex then took one big long look at everyone, then fearfully entered the P.I.F world.

 

* * *

 

I entered the world.

Then, I saw a prison in the distance and ran up to it.

 

“Hello. My name is Alex T. Otans.” I said, shaking a bit,

to the 2 guards standing at the doors.

“I have come to check up on the prisoners.”

I showed my badge as well, proving I was worthy of entering the prison.

 

I thought I knew what just happened, but I had to put it aside.

The Judge, if you can see this, I’m letting you know,

_ I trust you. _

 

* * *

 

Everyone stared at the painting.

Then, the Judge talked.

 

**“We shall see Alex come back in a bit.**

**Now, to the Outsidetheworldorwhatever painting.”**

 

Everyone left then went up to it.

But, then, it clicked for Tota.

She talked, about how the clones were them, from the future,

and they were going to be them!

This scared Cliffe and Fera a bit, but then the Judge asked,

 

**“Then what is the Fera clone?”**

 

Failing to give an answer, the group did nothing.

Tota and Cliffe hugged Fera goodbye, then entered the world,

Tota a bit cautiously, and Cliffe bravely.

 

**“Expect results from them soon.”**

  
  


* * *

 

Only Fera and Riven were left.

Then, the Judge kneeled and looked sad.

Fera asked them what was going on.

 

**“They were correct. They are the clones. Alex did walk into his death.”**

 

Fera took a moment to process it.

“So? What about me? What happens to me and Riven?”

 

**“You, Fera, are actually originally a clone. And now, you will become the original.**

**You will lead the rebellion that saved everyone and brought them to your world.**

**You will be a hero.”**

 

“N-no! I will die! I will die! I don’t want to die!”

 

**“Time must be restored, I must fix this paradox.”**

 

Riven then joined in, “So, it must be done?”

 

**“Yes.”**

 

Silence.

There was silence for a long time.

Then, Fera cried.

The Judge and Riven came and aided her.

The former then led them to another O.T.S painting,

which took place before the story began.

And Fera then entered it.

 

**“It is nearly done now.”**

 

The Judge then took his gavel, and struck every painting, breaking the links.

  
  


“So, what now?” Riven asked.

**“Now, we exit.”**

They both then went to where the fracture was, only to notice it wasn’t there anymore.

“Do we create another?” Riven questioned.

**“Yes, but without Cliffe’s sword, we need to use something else to fracture it.”**

“And what will that be?” Riven said.

 

But the Judge didn’t respond.

Eventually, Riven started creating his ball of energy.

“Alex trusted you, and you led him to his death.”

**“I know, it was necessary.”**

The Judge then struck the ball with his gavel.

**“This may be the last time I see any of you, ever.”**

“What do you mean?”

**“Riven, you must assemble everyone still alive.**

**You must lead them to victory, and escape.”**

“I don’t really understand.”

**“Taylor’s been using the powers of the weirdness,**

**maybe you all can too.”**

 

…

 

**“I am the Judge. I bring equity to the worlds.**

**I create order. I solve problems, no matter the cost.”**

 

The judge hesitated, then threw himself into the ball!

“Noooooo!” Riven screamed!

The ball then created the fracture in space and time again.

 

…

 

Riven looked behind him and all the broken paintings.

“The past is put behind me now,” He said, under his breath.

Then, after taking a deep breath, he entered the fracture,

and returned to the ‘normal’ world.

  
  
  


_ Violating the story’s rules. _

_ Are we real, or are we just tools? _

_ Hello, hello, hello, hello. _

_ What is everyone, a friend or a foe? _

  
  
  


**To be continued...**


	14. Era of Recursion: Bring In Sound!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riven has a lot to take in when Robert and the Mayor find him. Then, danger strikes when the mansion approaches...

I sat down on the stage, covering my body with a fallen curtain.

I then just looked into the abyss, at the random chunks of nothing.

I just thought about what just happened, and what’s supposed to next.

 

Tota and Cliffe are those clones…

Fera was originally those clones, and now has died…

The Judge betrayed Alex, then they both died…

And now what? I’m supposed to be the hero?

Save everyone? Go from a cold-blooded warrior to this?

What if that’s just what the story wants me to do?

After all, the Judge was driven by the story earlier.

 

While I wallowed in my thoughts,

I saw something out of the corner of my eye.

I looked around and saw Robert, approaching.

“Hey Riven! I escaped the town,” he said delightfully.

“How did you find me? This stage is far away!” I exclaimed.

“Uhh, no it isn’t. Anyways, I brought you some pie,” he continued.

He held out a plate and some pie, and after some thinking, I took it.

“The mayor should be coming soon,” Robert said.

 

I listened to Robert while eating his pie, which tasted pretty fine.

“Not bad,” I said to him, which made him slightly happier.

He mentioned wanting to be a cook, to ration our worn out souls.

After a while, I was finally prepared,

and the mayor arrived, and we shared the remaining pie.

“The universe wasn’t this empty space before, its rules keep changing!” I exclaimed.

Then, the mayor pointed into the distance, “Oh heavens! What is that?!”

 

They were pointing at, the mansion! It was approaching the stage, very fast!

“How do we get off?” Robert scaringly said.

“Well, how did you get on?!” I asked.

“I-I… forgot,” Robert replied, with the mayor also having nothing.

“Well, maybe the Judge’s gavel can do something!” I said, showing it.

“Speaking of, where is the Judge?” the Mayor asked.

“Oh, I’ll just, explain later,” I said.

 

I started throwing around the gavel, hoping it would so something.

Suddenly, it began raising itself!

I grabbed onto it, and it raised me too.

Robert and the Mayor (reluctantly) then grabbed onto me, and we, soared off?

 

* * *

 

“We need to get everyone and escape,” I boldly claimed.

 

We followed where-ever the gavel took us.

It seemed to go where I wanted it to, but I was not sure.

Robert, losing his grip, cried “Help, I’m slipping!”

And before the Mayor could grab him, he slipped and let go.

But, he did not fall back, like he was connected to the gavel.

The Mayor was also curious and wanted to let go, but remembered

how things like this don’t always repeat, like how T.O.G couldn’t originally pass.

 

The three continued soaring around the nothingy nothing, and I started talking.

“This is starting to get boring, do I really have to assemble everyone?”

Robert continued, “Well, we found you. Maybe everyone else already found each-other!”

“Or maybe, they forgot about us, and starting finding a way out…” I continued.

“Maybe they all died, maybe Taylor found them! Ma-”

“Hey, can you please stop?” the Mayor stammered.

“Oh, sorry…”

 

And as quickly as Riven shut up, he heard a note pass by him.

The Mayor noticed, and grabbed it, and noticed it had writing on it.

“Hey!” he said.

“Wait, something’s off…” Robert said.

“It sounds… I can hear stuff?”   
Riven and the Mayor then got confused.

“I can hear now. I could before, but now, I actually can.

I can even hear myself swallowing the last crumbs of the pie.”

“Oh yeah, that’s how I noticed the note?” Riven added.

“Very odd, hearing is so… weird… My voice is so, high pitched…” Robert said.

“Hey, that’s weird, but we should read this note!” the Mayor then said.

Everyone agreed, and he held it out, and then began reading.

  
  
  


_ To any survivors that may encounter this. _

_ My name is Toggy, and I have assembled a group of people. _

_ Cliffe, Tota, Rosella, Fredrick and I are here. _

_ We wait for responses, though there is not much time. _

_ Head in the direction you found this note in, and we can meet! _

_ You’ll know you’re there when you see a bright grassy field. _

 

_ -Toggy (Formerly The Ordinary Girl) _

  
  
  


“Should we trust it?” the Mayor asked, with his low pitched voice.

But, before anyone could say anything, Riven shook, and let go of the gavel!

“Oh, sorry! The weird sound stuff! It’s hard!” Riven exclaimed.

But, they all continued following the gavel anyways.

“Huh,” the Mayor said, now letting go of Riven.

  
  


“So, the note…” Riven said, with his soft voice.

“Should we trust it?” Robert asked.

“It’s either that or hopelessly wandering around.” the Mayor said.

“And even if it’s a trap or something, just lie to yourself.”

“W… Ugh. Not really any other choices…” Robert exclaimed, in defeat.

“Hm… Sorry, I can’t focus,” Riven said.

“My memories are also in sound? It sounds, awful.

The sound of Rinas dying, the sound of the loop starting, it’s… bad.”

And then, everyone thought for a bit and wallowed in the thoughts for a bit more.

 

Eventually, though, they stopped.

They then passed by a De-attached town.

“Oh hey, it’s my original story!” Robert said.

“And mine!” The mayor also said.

“It’s cool… Getting a better view of it.” Riven commented.

“But, it’s so undescriptive. Just kinda, bland, no offense.”

“Well, back then, the stories weren’t so detailed” the Mayor replied.

“Yeah, in fact, so undetailed, we don’t even have looks!

It’s just in the reader’s head on what we look like!” Robert added.

“What?”

“Nevermind,” Robert said.

 

They passed through the town, staring at it’s wondering,

and noticing that no one was there.

They continued soaring through the nothing, marveling at the new sound sense.

“Oh hey, an oven!” Robert noted, pointing at something.

They all saw the oven and some kitchen supplies/food near it.

“Well, you think I could make some food, and bring it along for the group?” Robert asked.

“What if it’s a trap?” Riven asked, a bit frightened.

“It’s not,” Robert said, going up to the oven, and beginning to cook.

 

He got out milk, eggs and other weird ingredients.

Riven wanted to stop him, but didn’t.

Robert then mixed the things together, in a bowl.

Then, he poured the brown contents into a tray.

“Hurry up, please,” the Mayor asked.

Robert then put the bowl into the oven, and cooked it at 5,000 degrees,

for 20 seconds. He then took out the contents.

“Okay, brownies are done! Let’s go,” Robert said, showing a big smile.

“Finally,” Riven said, as he held on to them, and soared off with the others.

 

“Hey, can I have a piece?”

“NO! Not yet...”

 

* * *

 

...

 

The three soared for a while until they saw a grassy field approaching them.

“I think this is it,” Riven said.

“Hey, before we drop down, can I ask something?”

the Mayor then said, a bit sorrowingly.

“Yeah, whatever you want!” Riven said, with Robert nodding.

 

“Well, I think I should drop the title of `The Mayor.`

There’s just no more reason to be called it. Both towns I ruled over are long gone, or very empty.

So, I think I should be called something else, you know. Like, Planner… Dave. Yeah, Dave works.”

 

“Oh, well, that’s something. It’s fine though.” Robert said.

“Why bring it up now though, and not at the meeting we might have?” Riven asked.

“Well, in case it’s a trap, and I want to discuss it with everyone, so they know my name will be different,” the Mayor continued.

“Okay, yeah. We can do that.” Riven said.

 

“Alright, we’re here.”

 

They all dropped off onto the ground, and saw a picnic table in the distance, with five figures near it, resembling the five the note mentioned.

“Yay! Let’s go say hi! I’m so excited to see them again!” Robert said, running up to them.

 

...

 

“Wait a second, this isn’t right…” Riven said, holding his arm.

“What’s not right about it, they’re right there!” Robert said.

“Well, Toggy wrote the note, right?” Riven responded, stuttering a tiny bit.

“Yeah? What about that?” Robert replied, a bit angry.

“Well, we established that anything she touched with her hands disappeared, right?”

 

…

 

“So, how did she write the note?”

 

…

 

“Oh no… The s-story even went into third person when y-y-you picked it u-up…” Robert replied…

“No!” he yelled, as he jerked his hand from Riven, took the brownies, and raced up to the table!

“No! Wait!” the Mayor said, in a bit of a panic.

“Mayor, how are you talking? I thought your mouth got disfigured?” Riven questioned.

“Ah! We’ve fallen into a darn trap!” the Mayor responded.

 

* * *

 

“H-hey! Nice to see you five, I brought brownies!” Robert said, a bit scared.

But the five just stood there, with blank expressions.

Suddenly, they vanished, and the area around him began shaking.

“No! We must go! With the gavel!” Riven said.

“The gavel! I threw that cursed thing off the ledge!” the Mayor said, angry.

“No! No! NOOO!!!” Riven said, shooting balls of energy everywhere.

 

_ “You really are just Puppets, aren’t you?” _

 

Then they all turned and faced the creature, the god, that destroyed Fera’s world.

 

 

 

**TO BE CONTINUED, IN ‘BRING IN SIGHT!’**


	15. Era of Recursion: Bring In Sight!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riven, Robert, The Mayor, Rosella, and Fredrick have one final clash with the creature, and actually have a chance at beating it...

Suddenly, the creature began destroying the ground viciously.

Knocking away bits, turning them into nothing-y nothing.

“What do we do?” Robert cried out, in fear, not wanting to die.

“Do the only thing we can,” Riven said, “Fight, it’s our only chance.”

Riven then began charging up his balls of energy, and Robert threw his fudge down.

“Wait, I never had this before!” The mayor said as he drew a rusted sword.

He then threw it at the creature, and it vanished away.

 

The creature then swooped down, and knocked the ground from beneath Riven!

However, in doing this, Riven was able to throw a ball at it, and grab onto a ledge.

“If you think we are not real, then you, are very wrong,” Riven said, for his life.

 

_ “You aren’t real. But it’s fun seeing you think you are.” _

 

While the creature went down and mocked Riven,

Robert jumped off the ledge onto it’s back!

He was instantly full of regret though.

 

_ “GET OFF!!!” _

 

“Ahh! This was a mistake!” Robert cried out.

The creature then began spazzing out!

It shot the ground around Riven, but he still prevailed.

“Young creature, you need to listen!” The Mayor stammered.

 

The creature then began duplicating itself, exponentially.

Eventually, there were thousands of it surrounding the broken field.

Then, the mayor began speaking…

 

* * *

 

“You must stop at once. You do not understand, but we are real,” he said that with brevity.

“After all that we worked through, after this far. Just, let us see our friends.

We’ve lost so much. Fera, William, the soldiers, some trolls… What would drive you to do this? Being bored?”

 

_ “You were created by us. You are under our control!” _

 

The mayor continued speaking. “Your mother and father created you, but you seem to act independently of them. Just, stop. Let go. Let us escape.”

 

...

 

_ “... _

_...You’re not the only one… _

_...Who has lost friends.” _

 

…

 

Right as the creature contemplated it’s thought, it felt a searing pain.

It felt a sword sear through its own flesh, and rip it open.

“What? Who’s sword is that?” Robert asked.

 

Suddenly, Rosella and Fredrick jumped into the scene!

“Oh hey, they did follow the note,” Fredrick commented, as he pulled out the sword.

“Regardless, we need to take out the beast,” Rosella commented, grabbing it.

Then Toggy appeared. “I can do it, go, distract it.”

Fredrick pulled Riven up, and everyone began to attack.

 

The creature then began create clones, but Riven took them out at an equal pace!

It then began attacking Rosella and Fredrick, though,

with their shield, they bounced it back!

  
  
  


_ They battled and battled, one against many… _

_ Could it be the end? Will the light finally shine? _

_ It went on and on, it was full of agony… _

_ It will be over soon, everything will be fine. _

  
  
  


They battled, but eventually, the creature started losing.

And while it was losing, it was thinking of the past...

 

* * *

 

_ Once upon a time, a really long time ago... _

  
  


They walked into the blank canvas of the universe.

“What is this? It’s unnaturally empty,” the nameless child said.

“Well, it’s whatever we want it to be,” Taylor replied.

“Can you show us how?” Fredrick asked, looking around.

“Y-yeah. Please show us,” William replied.

 

Then, Taylor demonstrated to them, carefully.

He focused his gaze into a single point, and there an apple formed.

“If you just focus, you create whatever you want,” he said, taking a bite out of an apple.

 

“Now, you try,” Taylor said.

And everyone began focusing, trying to create stuff.

Suddenly, a humanoid figure appeared in front of Tyler.

“Hey, I created a friend!” Tyler said, full of glee.

The figure then went up to him and hugged him.

 

“Oh yeah, I’ve found that all living things I create aren’t actually real,” Taylor said.

After a while, everyone managed to create something.

Taylor created an apple, Fera created a bandana, Tota and Cliffe created swords, Rosella and Fredrick both created a shield, etc.

But, there was one who couldn’t create anything. The nameless child.

 

_ Back to the present… _

 

* * *

 

The creature was withered down and had one wing torn off.

“No,” Fredrick said, stabbing his sword in more and more.

“I think you should stop, it’s already down,” Rosella mentioned.

“But, no. I must prove myself to you, after failing in the coliseum!” Fredrick yelled!

“Stop! We could get answers from that thing!” The mayor yelled.

Finally, Fredrick stopped, and it spoke.

 

_ “You never know when to stop…” _

 

“That was Fredrick’s fault.”

 

_ “Ahh… Such an anti-climatic end for me, compared to what happened.” _

 

…

 

_ “The heavens… I see them now… No hell in sight…” _

 

_ “Sight… Do you see it? Anything at all?” _

 

Then, sight came to everyone.

“Oh my, I can, see…” Robert said.

“Similar to how the sound came earlier,” Riven mentioned.

“You don’t deserve the heavens, you freak!” The Mayor yelled.

“Yeah! Go away!” Fredrick yelled.

“You two stop,” Rosella said.

 

_ “You… Don’t know the full story…” _

 

“Don’t go…” Toggy said.

 

_ “I… Am the creature… _

_ I create destruction, no matter the reason…” _

 

…

 

_ “And, the last thing I will destroy, is myself…” _

 

“No, there’s so much we could learn from you!” Rosella yelled.

 

_ “You’ve proven yourselves to be real… _

_ Only Taylor remains, good luck… Don’t kill… _

_ Pacifism is what you need…” _

 

…

 

_ “I… Am the creature… The nameless child… _

_ I create destruction, no matter the reason…” _

 

_ “Vale.” _

 

…

 

And then the creature imploded, leaving behind it’s ripped off wing.

 

…

 

“Fredrick!”

“I wanted to prove myself!”

 

* * *

 

_ A really long time ago… _

 

“I can’t do it! No matter how much I try!”

“Maybe you’re focusing too much on your past,” Taylor said.

“What? With Earth and stuff? Well, now I am!”

 

Hours and hours passed, and the nameless child couldn’t create anything.

Then, a girl went up to him.

“Hey, it’s okay,” she said to the child.

“No, it’s not, I can’t create! Everyone else can!”

Then, she replied, “Then, let’s destroy. We can destroy, together. But, only when needed, let’s not get too crazy.

The child sat there and thought for a bit…

 

“Yes. I will be the destroyer. I will bring destruction to the worlds.”

 

“That’s nice,” the Judge said, wanting to make this own title.

“And I, uhh, will… Bring equality! No matter the cost!”

“That’s nice,” the girl said.

 

And the nameless child began destroying.

He was mostly happy, but…

He always wanted to create, even though he couldn’t.

  
  


_ The end. _

_ Now, back to the present... _

 

* * *

 

“Only seven of us left…” Toggy commented.

 

...

 

“So, how did you write the note, if everything you touch disappears?” Riven asked.

“Oh, I just did?” Toggy answered.

“Well, that’s weird…” Riven replied.

 

“Nevermind that, we can see, like actually see now,” Robert said, getting his brownies.

“Too bad Cliffe and Tota aren’t here, to enjoy these…” he said, passing them out.

“Oh no, there they are,” Rosella mentioned, as they jumped into everyone’s view.

“Where were you?” Toggy asked.

 

And they explained that Cliffe was a bit shy after not seeing them for so long, and all the double life business that occurred, and Tota had to help him out.

“What double life stuff?” Robert asked.

“Oh, it’s a long story…” Riven said, before explaining everything that happened.

 

They all then ate the brownies, and talked, and had a jolly time.

“Still can’t believe all of this, especially that you killed our potential source of lots of information,” Rosella said.

“I wanted to prove myself!” Fredrick yelled.

“The proving and stuff from the coliseum were made by Taylor! It was fake and stuff!”

Tota then made them stop, explaining that they were now here,

and that arguing wasn’t going to help. They then stopped.

 

They then finished off the brownies and talked about what to do next.

 

Suddenly, Rosella had a realization!

“Animation. That’s the theme of this book.”

Everyone was a bit confused, but then it clicked.

 

The first five stories’ themes were toys, as they were very different and playful…

The next five were paintings, being very slow, like strokes, and abstract.

 

“And these, are animation. Before there were sound and sight,

it was like a storyboard. Then, there was sound, like voice actors.”

“And the sight was like an animator actually animating it!” Fredrick said.

“Floating in a blank abyss would be easy to animate…” Riven commented.

“Yes… Now, we figured this out before the story flat-out told us…” Rosella continued,

“There has to be a use for it or something.”

 

“We’ll go against the rules of animation!” The mayor stammered.

“Yes! Ruin the potential!”

 

* * *

 

So they all starting ruining things with potential for animation.

 

“Wow, it would be cool if we used this wing for anything…” Robert said, slowly.

He then ripped it up. “Nah. Not today?”

 

Toggy ran around the battlefield, touching everything, making them disappear.

“Would’ve been fun to see these being used, but nope, gone now!”

 

Rosella began doing a bunch of flips, and tricks that would be hard to animate.

“Hah, try to animate this, Mr. Taylor.”

 

But, after doing a lot, they all came fruitless, and everything remained mostly the same.

Then, Cliffe had a grim idea but didn’t want to share it.

“Come on, we could use it,” Riven said, wanting to know it.

Then he explained, that if someone were to die,

it would give them an unsatisfying ending.

Maybe, he thought, that would be enough, to go against Taylor.

“Oh. No,” Rosella said.

 

And they all pondered for a long time until eventually, they gave in.

 

* * *

 

So, Cliffe put six leaves on the ground, and a small stone under one of them.

He explained that they would all pick one, and whoever got the stone would die.

If no one picked the stone, then, unfortunately, he would die.

 

“I-I don’t want to do this…” Toggy said…

“You’ll have to,” Rosella responded.

“No, you won’t have too.”

 

“What?” Rosella said.

“You heard me,” The Mayor said, picking every single leaf.

“There. At least one has the rock under it, so kill me…”

 

Sadly, they all prepared.

Fredrick got out his gallant blade.

The Mayor sat down, awaiting his death.

“It doesn’t have to be you,” Rosella said.

“I couldn’t bare seeing any more deaths, I’d kill myself anyway,” the Mayor said.

 

Everyone closed their eyes, and Fredrick attempted to stab him.

But, he missed, and stabbed the ground to the right of him.

So he tried again and failed again.

“I’m sorry, I can’t. I don’t think anyone could,” Fredrick said, sadly.

“That’s okay,” the Mayor said.

Then, quickly, he jerked Fredrick’s sword out of his hand, and stabbed himself!

 

“No! No! No…” Fredrick said!

“It’s fine… You’re all going to be free now…” the Mayor said.

“No! Fuck! Sorry for the language, but no!!!” Toggy said, being frightened.

“It’s so much worse now that I can actually see it,” Riven weepingly said.

Rosella just stood, letting out a tear, and Cliffe and Tota were in sorrow.

 

The ground below them began shaking intensely.

“It is time, go kick Taylor out of the park…” the Mayor said…

“Mayor! Why? How could you?”

“Please… Call me... Dave…” he said, before falling over limp.

The Mayor, or Dave, had died.

 

The ground shook more and more, then opened into another dimension.

Everything fractured and crumbled.

“We… Did it,” Rosella said.

“Destruction, no matter, the cost…” Fredrick commented.

 

It opened up, and everything fractured, once more.

Once more.

Once more.


	16. Era of Recursion: Breaking Reality And Self Reflection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fredrick convinces the group to fight one last time.  
> Final chapter of Book 3.

Once more.

  
  
  


There was silence.

For a small short time, there was silence.

Then, their bodies appeared, in the darkness.

 

Robert, Rosella, Fredrick, Toggy, Cliffe, Tota and Riven…

…

“How much longer?” Fredrick said, slowly.

“Hm?” Rosella replied.

“The universe just, keeps resetting!” Fredrick replied,

“I can’t keep doing this! We are losing, slowly but surely!”

“You got to have hope!” Robert replied.

“Well, I am getting kinda tired…” Rosella said.

“Poor Dave, didn’t deserve to die…”

 

Then, they all saw, what was a television in the distance.

“What’s that?” Toggy asked.

“I don’t know, let me check,” Riven replied, approaching it.

“Wait, what if it hurts you?” “I’ll be fine.”

Suddenly, the TV displayed, a war field.

There were many soldiers fighting, including Rinas.

“Rinas…”

 

“No,” Toggy replied, running up to the Telly,

and touching it, making it disappear.

 

…

 

“Finally,” a voice said, echoing all around everyone. Taylor’s voice.

Cliffe and Tota feared it, and got scared, but Fredrick just looked bored.

“Whatever, just throw what you got,” he replied, boringly drawing his sword.

“What are you doing?” Rosella asked him, putting his sword down.

“Facing death. If I die, so be it. I want to break this cycle, and be free.”

“Well, a battle is inevitable,” Riven said.

 

* * *

 

 

“The creature, the Judge, both useless. I may have felt for them in the past, 

but now, it is just me. And I will show you no mercy,

every single one of your atoms are destroyed,” Taylor stammered.

 

“Fredrick, we’re not going to win this…” Toggy replied, in fear.

“Yeah, I don’t think violence will solve this,” Rosella said.

“What else do we do? Cry? Wait for our demise?” Fredrick yelled,

“no, we face this battle with bravery! For freedom!”

“Y-Yeah!” Robert replied, with Cliffe agreeing.

“B-But, our gavel, it’s gone,” Rosella replied.

“No, maybe not,” Riven said, a bit bravely.

 

“The chance is low, extremely low. One in a thousand? One in a million?

Doesn’t matter. But what does matter, is that there is a small chance.

A small hope, that it will come. It will strike down, and aid us in victory!” Riven replied, in a fiery spirit.

  
  


…

  
  


_ Swish! _

  
  


The gavel landed in Riven’s hand, as he held it up high.

“For freedom!” Riven yelled at the darkness.

“Freedom!” Fredrick also yelled, fiercely.

 

Taylor then came from the darkness, broken, with electricity surrounding him.

“Are you really going to fight me?” Taylor replied, before silence filled the area.

“Yes,” Rosella finally said! “For freedom!”

“Freedom,” Robert also said, a bit quieter than everyone else.

“For freedom,” Tota and Cliffe replied, ready for battle!

“Creator versus creation it is then.”

And with a blink of her eyes,

Taylor changed the darkness into the war field,

with no one in it.

 

Then, the two sides charged at each other.

And they clashed.

 

* * *

 

AGE OF DIVISION: THE BIG BATTLE

 

Immediately, Taylor struck Riven with lightning, blasting him to near death.

Robert then immediately panicked, and hid in a trench.

“Don’t think you can hide,” Taylor monologued, creeping above him.

Then, Fredrick jumped on Taylor’s back, took the electricity, and stabbed her, deeply.

But, she shook it off, and grabbed Fredrick, throwing him far away into the nearby trees.

“No!” Rosella yelled, before falling.

But then, she noticed Riven, still alive, having absorbed the energy.

He then began making a giant ball of energy, throwing his gavel to Rosella, as Taylor focused on him.

Taylor struck the ball, making it explode in both her and Riven’s faces.

But, Riven remained, unscarred.

“Why won’t you die?!” Taylor grumbled, striking bolt after bolt at him.

“Because, I have the armor,” he replied, as Rosella came from behind and struck her head with the gavel.

 

Around the spot of the wound, reality cracked a little more, before closing.

Taylor, in a fit of rage, then grabbed Rosella, and talked.

“You are nothing. You are infinitely less than me. Watch!”

And in an instant, thousands of clones of weaker Taylors warped into existence from all around.

“It’s five to a thousand,” they all said, monotonously.

“Maybe not!” A familiar voice yelled, from the distance.

 

It was Rinas, and his soldiers! With Fredrick.

There, they all shot their muskets, all at the same Taylor.

That one Taylor then fell, and died.

“Ah! We gotta keep doing this!” Rinas yelled.

There, a bloody battle took place. Many soldiers constantly got mowed down by the Taylors, as they fell one by one. Toggy also touched some, making them disappear. Finally, just Rinas remained, with the remaining seven.

“For freedom!” he yelled, as he shot his last bullet at the last Taylor, simultaneously as Cliffe and Tota struck her.

Taylor then let out a big cry, all wounded.

She dropped Rosella, and she hit the ground hard.

Finally, with the last of her strength, Rosella hit Taylor,

and fractured the battlefield, warping it.

 

* * *

 

AGE OF DIVISION: THINKING AND ESCAPING

 

Suddenly, everyone was on a train!

“Ah, be careful!” Robert replied, pointing at past Rosella and Fredrick.

“What’s going on?” Past Fredrick asked.

“No time to explain, just battle the electric monster!” Present Fredrick said.

Past Fredrick and Rosella then drew their sword and shield.

Taylor then took the gavel from Present Rosella, and threw it out the window of the train. “No…” she said, in one of her last breaths.

“Rosella, are you alright?” Present Fredrick asked.

“I’m fine, let’s keep going!”

“You’re messing up reality more and more, you might as well stop now!” Taylor stammered, sending his electricity all around the metal parts of the train, forcing the engine to shut off!

“No!” Riven replied, sending many balls of energy at Taylor, staggering her!

“If you want to end it, then just end us already! You’re holding back for a reason!” Past Fredrick yelled. “Yeah!” both Rosellas said.

“Fine then, I will send hell fire across everyone!” Taylor replied, before catching Cliffe trying to hit her, and dissolving him to ash.

 

But then, unknown the everyone, the train derailed!

It went off the tracks, into a valley.

It crashed at the bottom, which had some water flooding the train.

While everyone was distracted, Toggy finally saw her chance to touch the main Taylor. She ran up to her, and touched her!

“What?” Toggy confusingly said, as Taylor did not react.

“You foo-“ Taylor smirkingly replied, before the gavel fell onto her back, causing a giant explosion, wrecking the whole train in the water.

 

Everyone, wanting their own survival, then tried swimming up to the surface.

But, as they got higher and higher, they got more and more tired.

They swam more and more, until they could do it no longer.

But, in Riven’s last stroke, he charged a small ball, and threw it at Taylor.

This wounded her enough, to make a loud shriek, and warp the world once again.

 

* * *

 

AGE OF JUDGEMENT: A TUMBLING RETURN

 

Everyone spawned next to a pond, in a pleasant world,

with a regal town in the distance. Fera’s world.

They, they took deep breaths, being alive.

Then, three clones approached them all, confused.

“Oh god, not you clones!” Fredrick screamed, before Taylor awoke.

 

“You wanted me to end you all? So be it, I will do so now!”

 

Taylor then floated above into the sky, out of everyone’s reach, and charged up a giant bolt of lightning. It was to be the end of everyone.

 

**“Stop!”**

 

To the surprise of everyone, the Judge floated down.

“Oh my, how much more confusing will this get?” Rinas questioned.

 

**“I can sense a major disturbance in the reality of everything.”**

 

“Well, these idiots thought they could challenge me!” Taylor replied.

 

**“Taylor, Taylor… That is no excuse for messing up time and space.”**

 

“Shut it! You die in the future anyways!”

 

**“Taylor, you are only speeding up the eventual end to everything.”**

**“Take a rest, and be more thoughtful.”**

 

_ “No!” _

 

The creature came out, from the mountains, before dropping Past Cliffe!

 

“Finally, an ally! Hello past creature!”

 

_ “It is my destiny to destroy. When I see these entities, I just see more to end.” _

 

**“Stop!”**

 

But, they did not stop. Reluctantly, the Judge and his gavel had no choice, but to watch it unfold.

But, he noticed that Riven was holding another gavel.

**“What is this?”**

“You gave it to me, in our future,” Riven said.

The Judge got confused, but then realized what this meant.

If he gave the gavel to Riven, then he must be real.

They were all real.

Then, the nearby town’s mayor went out, confused.

“What the heavens is this?” He asked.

“No time to explain, get everyone,” Rosella replied.

And, after some thought, he did. He got, everyone.

Even the trolls, they were ready to fight.

 

A giant battle was about to commence.

 

* * *

 

Taylor, The Creature (EoJ)

 

Vs.

 

Robert, Rosella (Wounded), Fredrick, Toggy, Cliffe, Tota, Riven, Rinas (EoD, Tired), Rosella (EoD), Fredrick (EoD), Tota (EoJ),

Cliffe (EoJ), Tota Clone (EoJ), Cliffe Clone (EoJ), Fera Clone (EoJ), Rosella (EoJ), Fredrick (EoJ), Alex T. Clone (EoJ), T.O.G (EoJ), The Mayor,

Robert (EoJ), William (EoJ), The Soldiers (EoJ, Includes Rinas (EoJ)), The Trolls (EoJ)

  
  


Neutral: The Judge (EoJ)

  
  
  


_ “Taylor, do we really stand a chance here?” _

 

“They are all mere imagination! And I have infinite power!”

 

_ “Are you sure?” _

 

…

Taylor didn’t respond.

 

“Charge!!!” Both Rinases simultaneously said.

And the fight, began.

 

But as it began, Taylor noticed something…

That someone was missing…

And it reminded him of an old memory...

 

* * *

 

_ Once upon a time, a really long time ago... _

 

Taylor walked up to Tyler, noticing that he was all alone.

“Hey Tyly, where’s your friend that you created?” Taylor asked.

“Gone,” Tyler replied, in a blank expression.

“Oh, did something happen?”

“I was just, doing some stuff, and the friend got a little too involved…”

 

“What stuff?” Taylor asked.

“N-nothing!” Tyler responded.

“You better have not been messing with time!” Taylor said,

“You know that can end everything here.”

“I-I know. I really miss him though…”

 

Tyler then began crying. Feeling bad, Taylor took him to the almost complete castle of “wonder and imagination”!

There, he laid for several days.

 

* * *

 

_ Bash! _

 

Riven finally got a hit on the creature, with the gavel.

The creature then fell, onto a building, before getting back up.

_ “Guess it’s you who I will kill first.” _

The creature then picked up Riven, but in doing so, every single Fera, Tota and Cliffe grabbed on to him, causing the creature to topple over.

Toggy also tried to grab him, but was pushed back by everyone else.

 

_ “Taylor! Help me!” _

 

“I-I can’t” she replied, being shot over and over by all the soldiers, and stabbed by the Rosellas and Fredricks.

Then, the Judge went up to Taylor.

 

**“Be glad you won’t be alive to see the destruction you’ve c-“**

 

Taylor surprisingly electrocuted the Judge, then stole his gavel, and hit everyone attacking her, knocking them all off.

Then, Taylor saw a fierce Riven being thrown at her, with the gavel held out.

 

_ CLANNNNGGGG!!! _

 

Both gavels hit each-other, and sent an ear bleeding screech across the plane of existence, freezing almost everyone!

The clang was so strong, it caused both gavels to destroy each-other!

Being frozen from the sound, Toggy got close to the creature, and nearly hit him,

but he stepped back, only to get touched by The Ordinary Girl instead.

Then, the creature saw as his body slowly disintegrated away.

He crawled a bit, before stopping. The creature was dead.

“N-No!” Taylor replied, screeching so loud that it warped the world, once again.

 

* * *

 

UNKNOWN AGE: BEFORE IT BEGAN

 

…

 

“What story are we in this time?”

“I’ve never seen this before, has anyone here?”

“...No? Taylor? Judge?”

 

Everyone was in silence.

And before the violence could resume…

 

“Stop!” Taylor yelled.

“Why should we listen to you?” asked William.

**“Please, do so. Taylor is seeing something.”**

 

And so everyone stopped, and saw what Taylor was looking at.

 

It was a castle, in the middle of a white void.

 

There, they all saw themselves, at peace.

All helping each other, and holding the power of Taylor.

 

“I don’t remember this,” Past Robert remarked.

“Yeah, when did this happen?” Present Robert asked.

 

**“A really, really, long time ago.”**

 

So, they all watched the castle.

 

The glory days…

 

Taylor took a step forward.

 

**“You know you can’t do that.**

**It’ll only mess things up more.”**

 

“I was supposed to be, the being of creation.

Creating all good things, no matter the cost.”

 

“But now, there are only eight of us left, in the present.”

 

…

 

“And it is all from me.”

 

...

 

Taylor watched her old self being so joyful, and helping everyone.

 

…

 

Then, she made her choice.

She created a painting, which seemed blank.

Then, she used her own powers to,

kill herself.

 

…

 

“Taylor is finally dead, for good,” Riven said.

“I really want to crack this mystery open,” Rosella responded.

 

**“You can’t. Reality is too fractured right now.”**

 

**“You must use Taylor’s painting, and you seven must go back to the present. At least that will fix something.”**

 

“Will it be the same?” Tota asked the Judge.

 

**“It should be, but starting to fall apart.”**

 

“Hey, what about us?” The Mayor asked, with all the past ones.

 

**“I don’t know.”**

 

…

 

Cliffe and Tota then entered the painting.

Rosella and Fredrick followed.

Robert waved goodbye to his old self, then did so.

“What will we do?” Toggy asked.

“We find an escape from this hell,” Riven replied.

The Judge nodded.

Then, Riven and Toggy entered the painting.

But, before fully entering, Riven created a ball of energy,

and threw at the painting as he left, breaking it forever.

  
  
  


**“Well, we’re all so screwed.”**

 

* * *

 

…

 

The seven arrived at the grass field, that they left in.

 

“So, How do we get out?” Robert asked.

“I don’t know,” Riven replied.

“Shame,” Rosella murmured.

 

“I think I can help with that.”

They all heard a voice from behind them.

And when they turned back, it was him.

 

Him.

 

It was Tyler.

 

“It’s been so long.”


	17. Era of Escape: The Split.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After recovering with Tyler, the group decides on a plan to finally escape. A more dialogue-heavy chapter.

          “It’s been so long.”  Those words squeezed out of Tyler’s mouth, as his head tilted back a bit. “Tyler!” Robert exclaimed in glee, as he ran up to Tyler. “Where were you?” he asked, stopping. “T-the creature pushed me down into the void back then!” Tyler responded, holding a straight face, as everyone else walked up to him. He then took two steps back. “Are you nervous?” Toggy asked, blankly. “N-no! I’ve just been, so isolated for a long time,” Tyler responded, holding his hands out. “Well, it’s good to see you,” Rosella replied, bringing her arm out for a handshake. Tyler did not handshake her, though, and she eventually put her hand down. “So uh, you mentioned that you could help us escape?” Riven asked.

 

          “Oh, yeah! While I’ve been alone, I decided to use my time, and experiment with this reality,” Tyler splurged out, releasing the straight face. “Doesn’t seem fishy at all,” Fredrick replied, sarcastically. “Let him explain first, before we question it,” Rosella replied. “Uh, well… I think I may have discovered a way out. While you were, doing whatever you were doing when you left this field,” “Fighting Taylor through time and space, and disrupting reality,” Fredrick answered. “Well, I noticed that, the landscape of here changed. Like, about ten minutes ago, that is.” “You were counting?” Tota asked. “Yeah, being lonely gives you a good sense of time,” Tyler responded, taking another step back. “That seems to line up with Taylor’s death!” Riven answered. “Huh,” Tyler responded.

 

          “Well, I have realized, to escape, we need to travel at a high speed,” Tyler let out. “What are you getting at?” Fredrick asked him, stepping towards Tyler. “Well, if we could, construct a device capable of carrying all of us, we could soar across this place, and eventually, go so fast that we rip a hole in it, and finally, get out.” “And why do you know thi-“ Rosella asked, right before collapsing to the floor. “Agh!” She said. “W-what’s happening?!” Robert cried out. “N-nothing, just my wounds finally getting the better of me,” she responded. “Wait, let me fix you,” Tyler said, stepping towards her. He then raised his hand upwards, and mysteriously, healed her wounds. “What, how?” She asked, before getting back up. “I learned basic ways of altering this reality,” he responded, “besides, you were also able to heal, a really long time ago.”

 

          “Yeah, I was able to use those basic powers to send small particles at extreme speeds, and I noticed, that they ripped small holes!” He exclaimed, finally letting all his emotion out. “Okay?” Fredrick said, trying to console Rosella, before she shyed away a bit from him, disappointing him a bit. “So, if we had a tool, that could accomplish such a thing, and control it!” Tyler let on, before getting interrupted by Riven, “The gavel is gone, though!” “Oh, oh my,” Tyler said, a bit fearfully, “Well, that’s okay! I can feel large sources of energy, all around us!” “In the newly formed landscape that came from Taylor’s death, I feel three different sources of reality breaking tools!” He exclaimed.” “So, you want us to travel to those three places, and possibly find our way out?” Riven asked him. “Yeah! Better take this chance!” Tyler replied.

 

          “Okay, so, how do we know you’re not tricking us?” Fredrick asked, after stepping towards Tyler. “Well, he did save me,” Rosella responded. “Yeah, and we have no other choice,” Riven responded. “Hmpth, fine,” Fredrick said, “So, which one do we go to fir-“ “No, we have to split up!” Tyler interrupted, “This reality is starting to fall apart! We have to be as quick as possible!” And just as Tyler said that, the rest of group realized the small morphing cracks in the reality around them. “Will that work though?” Tota asked. “I don’t think we have a choice,” Cliffe responded. “So, are we all on board with this?” Rosella asked everyone. “Uh, raise your hand if you are?” Tyler blurted out. And everyone eventually raised their hand.

 

* * *

 

          So, the group got ready for their split, and decided one last time to eat and share food together. Tyler summoned some ingredients, and Robert cooked them into burgers. Everyone ate some, except for Rosella. “Come on, you may starve!” Tyler insisted. “No, I’m fine,” she replied. “So, who will pair with who?” Robert asked.

“Well, I think I and Rosella ca-“ Fredrick said, before being interrupted by her. “No, I think I need a break from you, sorry,” she responded. “Oh.” Tyler then added, “I think I and someone else should stay, to build what will hold whatever powerful tools you find.” “I’m pretty weak compared to everyone else,” Robert said, “I think building with you is the best I can do.” “I think that’ll work just fine,” Tyler then responded, with a small smile.

 

          “I don’t see myself working with anyone else but you,” Cliffe said to Tota. “Okay, guess we are a pair then,” she responded. “Riven, you’re with me,” Rosella commanded. “Hm?” Riven replied. “I don’t really want to work with either of the other two,” she responded. “Harsh?” Toggy said. “I guess we’re together then!” Riven exclaimed. “So me, and Toggy, are the last group,” Fredrick said, unsuringly. “We’ll make it work,” Toggy then responded.

 

          The four groups then saw the three locations around them which held the tools. One was colorless, dark, and very empty, with just some small islands. Another had an extremely big fiery orange ball, with what appeared to be a temple around it. The last was the previous stories, all arranged confusingly. “So, me and Tyler are staying put,” Robert said, “So, who’s going where?” “I’m up for a challenge, and I’m not facing the past AGAIN,” Rosella commented, “we’re going to the dark empty place!” “What? Are you sure?” Riven questioned. “Just, use your powers, or something, and we’ll be fine!” Rosella responded. “Fine?” Riven finally responded back.

 

          “I don’t want to face the past again either…” Toggy said. “Yeah, let’s go to the giant ball and temple,” Fredrick added. “Okay!” She said back. “Alright, the past it is,” Cliffe exclaimed, with Tota nodding. “Alright, I think we have our groups then. Everyone good?” Robert asked. “Let’s get this over with.” “Sure, I guess.” “We’re, good!” “Indeed.” “Ready Tota?” “Yeah.” “Let’s escape.” “...”

  
  


Tyler, Robert

Staying at grass field, building device capable of escape.

 

Cliffe, Tota

Heading to the past lands to find a potentially powerful tool.

 

Rosella, Riven

Heading to the dark islands to find a potentially powerful tool.

 

Fredrick, Toggy

Heading to the temple around the ball for a potentially powerful tool.

  
  


          “So, is that our groups, and destinations?” Riven asked. “Yes,” Rosella said, walking to the edge of the field, looking at their destination. Tota and Cliffe then walked to their edge of the field, looking at the past lands, filling them with determination! “Let’s do this,” Fredrick said, looking at the giant ball of flames. “Split in three,” Tyler commanded, “two, one, go!”. Riven and Rosella jogged away, Tota and Cliffe ran, and Fredrick and Toggy dashed! Then, Robert and Tyler waved them goodbyes.

 

          “So, uh, we just get the boring part?” Robert asked Tyler. “I guess so.” He responded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next four chapters will be everyone's adventures, one for each of them.


	18. Era of Escape: The Electricity.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rosella and Riven go to gather a powerful tool on an electrifying adventure.

          Rosella and Riven traveled more and more. What a calm and pleasant grass field was  slowly and slowly became more twisted, and dark, until it was just deadness below them, with holes in reality. “Did you really think through, Rosey?” Riven asked Rosella, who was just running slightly faster than his skipping. She then stopped, turned around, and sternly said “Don’t call me Rosey,” before running again, “Also, I can just jump over any big holes in reality.” “But I’m not sure what I’ll do?” “Figure it out.”

 

          “Are you okay?” Riven asked her, not expecting a response. “Do I look fine?!” She exclaimed at him, making Riven slow a bit. “Uh, we-” “It’s just that dumb Fredrick kept trying to prove himself, and only made things worse!” “I’m sure he was only trying his be-” “He even impaled himself when the train originally crashed, what an idiot.” Riven then stood in silence, knowing no response would make her better, or reconnect with Fredrick.

 

          Eventually, they reached a large gap between the mainland and another island. Rosella jumped over it, however nearly slipped on the other end. “What do I do?” Riven asked her. “Something,” she responded. Riven then thought for a bit, Then jumped half the distance, before blasting himself off one of his balls of energy, flying to the other side, nearly making Rosella worry. “Come on then,” she commanded. So, they picked up their paces and began running forward, where all the jumpable islands made a nearly straight path. However, while running, Riven noticed slight electrical currents around them.

 

          More jumping and jumping happened. It continued until they reached a split in the path, with more splits in the distance that Riven saw. “Well, let’s split up,” Rosella mumbled. “No, we’re going right!” Riven responded. “How do you know that?” Rosella asked him. “Can you see the slight electrical currents in the ground? They make the path forward!” Rosella just stood quietly, before they both went right. Then, they continued following the currents, and as they got further, the currents were bigger and bigger, and the deadness below transitioned more and more into, wires? Some of the wires even connected up the islands.

 

          Eventually, they reached a giant island, which had no wires at the middle, but just black grass, with a dead tree. There, lay a table, with a dark lavender telephone. It had only a singular button on it, marked “Call.”. Rosella looked at it for a bit, noticed that a tiny cable went from it to the flaming ball very far in the distance. Riven stood closely behind her. Then, the telephone rang. But, she just stood there, looking at it. “Are you going to answer? It can’t hurt you,” Riven asked Rosella. “No, let’s move,” she sternly responded. The ringing stopped, and they both continued hopping forward, noticing a mansion-like figure in the distance.

 

     Soon, they got to the foot of said figure. It was a mansion, covered by an insane amount of wires. So much, it was impossible to note any details on the mansion that they encased. “I can feel, the powerful tool, coming from inside,” Riven noted. “Then let’s go get it, and go,” Rosella responded. Rosella then ran into the gaping open hole, where the doors were supposed to be. Riven walked in, too. Inside, was a single room, with all of the wires connecting to a laptop in the middle. However, the amount of energy surrounding the laptop was endless, preventing Rosella and Riven from reaching it. “Use your ball things,” Rosella commanded Riven. So, Riven tried, but to no avail. They couldn’t pass the electricity. “So, I guess we wait for a miracle?” Riven said. “No, you idiot, a miracle won’t just happ-”

 

* * *

 

Suddenly, the universe began to crack even more. Everything started warping and breaking. And the laptop suddenly turned off. Rosella snatched it. “Ah, well, this wasn’t the miracle I wanted!” Riven exclaimed, before being grabbed by Rosella, as she ran out. She dropped him outside, and they watched as the mansion began deforming more and more, until it became just an electric ball, floating towards them! “The universe is beginning to break down!” Riven exclaimed, noting the cracks that were around them were now gaping holes into chaos. Then, they both began running, hopping between the islands, with the laptop, for their lives.

 

          They hopped and hopped until the reached the island with the telephone, where they found the next jump to big to make. They stood for a second. “Rosella, we need to use the phone! It might help us!” Riven yelled. Rosella, full of regret, pressed the call button, and picked up the phone slowly. … There was no response. “What do we do?” Riven asked Rosella, before realizing it would probably lead to nothing good. But, she was quiet, and then responded, “Close our eyes, and die happy, knowing we tried.”

 

          They closed their eyes. They expected to die. But, there was just silence. Then, Rosella could feel the laptop doing something. She opened her eyes and saw it “absorbing” the ball of electricity. She nudged Riven, and he then saw it too. The laptop then finished and closed. “What?” Rosella said, in shock. “Hm, maybe we can use it to help us?” Riven responded. So, after some fidgeting, Rosella made it bring a bunch of islands, into a runnable line. There, they ran through them, and just before they got to the grass field, there was one final obstacle.

 

          The gap between the final island was huge. Riven and Rosella tried to get the laptop to help them but found nothing. They saw the islands before them crumbling, one by one. And just before their island crumbled, they saw Tyler on the other side. He lifted his right arm and formed a bridge that spread across half the gap. “You’ll have to jump!” He shouted, with Robert behind him, panicked. Rosella stood in fear. “Riven, you go first.” So, Riven jumped, made an energy ball, and bounced off of it, almost reaching the other side. His arms grabbed on to the side of the bridge, and Tyler pulled him up. “Rosella, I’ll catch you!” Riven yelled, offering his hand. Rosella hesitated, then jumped, with the laptop! She got further, and further, and managed to land past Riven and Tyler. “Oh, looks like you didn’t need us?” Riven said, confused.

 

          “Well, Fredrick and Toggy arrived here too, and we’re nearly done,” Tyler responded, “So, let’s hurry up! To our escape device!” “Fredrick…” Rosella said soullessly, before running with everyone else to the middle of the field, with the laptop.

 

* * *

 

And that concludes Riven and Rosella’s detour. But, before we can catch up with Tyler and everyone else, we must first see the other two detours. Next time, we will see Toggy and Fredrick’s detour, in “The Stranger.”

 

 

 

##U H#V# TO #### R#A###G#


	19. Era of Escape: The Stranger.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toggy and Fredrick venture into the temple surrounding the giant flaming ball.

          Fredrick and Toggy approached a long stone brick bridge, leading from the main grass field island to the temple around the flaming ball. They both took one short look at each other, then crossed it, As they got closer and closer to the temple, Fredrick got hotter, and hotter, to the point of sweating. He then cut his pants and sleeves, to have less clothing. “You’re not hot?” He asked to Toggy. “N-no,” She responded. They then hit a large metal door at the front of the temple, with some writing above it.  _ “Only the one who is worthy may enter.” _ So Fredrick knocked on the door, to no response. Toggy then tried, but just made the door disappear. “Oh,” She said, as they both entered the temple.

 

          They both entered a cold stone labyrinth, with no light except from Toggy. They took many turns, before Toggy made a suggestion. “Let’s keep going Left, we’ll find the exit eventually.” So, that is what they did, and while they were doing so, Fredrick noticed Toggy a bit sad. “Are you okay?” He asked her. “Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” she responded in a monotone voice. “No, you don’t seem fine,” Fredrick replied, a bit stern, “What is it?” “I-I’m…” She let out, before choking on her own words. “I feel lonely.” “What? You have us!” Fredrick replied, a bit confused.

 

          “Yeah, but my powers… I can never show affection, or touch anyone… They will always die…” Fredrick walked a bit quietly then. “And, it’s like they’ve gotten even more powerful, now, I can’t even touch inanimate objects.” “Well, it’s not as hellish as back when child Taylor existed,” Fredrick replied. “Yeah, but, it’s been growing back on me…” She replied. “Toggy,” Fredrick then said. … “We will try to fix you, I promise,” he replied. “Can you though?” She asked him, a bit worried. “I don’t want to lie to you, we will do all that we can.” They then just wondered the labyrinth in silence, before finally seeing an exit.

 

          They reached an empty room, missing a wall on the right, that had strokes of random color around it. In the middle of the room, was a lavender telephone, with a wire that was connecting it to the dark wire-y islands to the far right. It had a singular button, marked "call." “Oh, do you call it?” Toggy asked Fredrick. “Hm, it leads to the place where,  _ Rosella  _ is at.” “What’s wrong with that?” She asked him. “I think she wants me away from her, for now.” They then ignored the telephone, and continued through the stone temple.

 

          Eventually, they reached an open area. The flaming ball was right in front of them, with a giant stone brick platform housing a paintbrush on it. Toggy could feel the power of it. “That paintbrush, that’s what we need.” “I don’t know, if I can move any more forward, without passing out,” Fredrick slowly replied. “That flaming ball…” “It’s called a star,” a mysterious voice said. Fredrick and Toggy looked around. Suddenly, a blobby light purple humanoid figure jumped down, and held the paintbrush. “And, this, is not yours,” it replied.

 

* * *

 

 

          “Who is this, stranger?” Fredrick asked Toggy. “I gave myself the name of Blanky,” it replied. “We need that,” Toggy replied. The blobby figure then went up to Fredrick, holding out the paintbrush. “Just take it then!” Blanky exclaimed. Fredrick tried reaching out, before falling to the ground, and passing out. “Please, we need that!” Toggy yelled. “No,” Blanky said, “I know that anyone that gets great power, will be driven to insanity.” “Huh?” Toggy replied. “I saw Taylor get this paintbrush, and two other tools, for immense power. But then, driven by insanity, she crushed the stone castle, and put everyone in their own personal hells.”

 

          “And why didn’t you do anything?” Toggy asked Blanky. “I, actually didn’t see it. But, it can be inferred, with all the clues, and how messed up everything was. It was what I first saw, after being warped here, to the future.” “Well, the Judge held a powerful gavel, and didn’t go insane!” “Yes, there are some exceptions,” Blanky replied, looking at the paintbrush, “but, with great power, comes great risk.” 

 

          Then, the ground began to shake, knocking Blanky to the ground. “What’s happening?” He asked Toggy. “This must be the beginning of the end! The collapse of all reality!” She replied. Then, the star behind them started expanding alarmingly! “Agh, run!” Blanky said, picking up Fredrick and running with him. Toggy and Blanky then ran through the labyrinth. “I heard about this before, Taylor knew it was going to happen!” Blanky said, “Here, take the paintbrush, might as well since we will all die anyways!” Toggy then tried to grab the paintbrush, but held back. “What’s wrong? Just take it!” He yelled. “I-I can’t!” She replied. “Well, then, fine!” Blanky replied, keeping it to himself! They continued running through the labyrinth. It went on forever. It seemed like it would never end. Toggy thought that she had failed, that while in the labyrinth, the universe ended into chaos. But, it didn’t. She saw the stone bridge.

 

          When they got to the stone bridge, Blanky put Fredrick down, and they saw the star behind them collapse, turning into a much smaller dark hole. It then began sucking everything around it. They watched as everything got sucked up, and watched as the universe blisted. “Well, you go back in failure to whatever you were doing!” Blanky replied. “Well, guess I failed Tyler…” Toggy said in shame. Then, Blanky stood in shock. “Tyler?” He stuttered out. Then, in the blink of Toggy’s eyes, he was gone. Then, Fredrick woke up, on the bridge. “Did you do it?” “N-no…”

 

          “H-hey!” Tyler said, on the main grass field. He walked up to Toggy, and Fredrick. “Did you get the tool?” He asked them. “I’m sorry…” Toggy replied. “We did not,” Fredrick finished. “Oh,” Tyler replied, sad, “Well… Maybe… Two will work…” “Unfortunately, Fredrick passes out, and I, just couldn’t grab it, because of my stupid powers!” Toggy yelled, “I hate them! I hate them! I hate them!” “It’s okay,” Fredrick said. “At least you tried, that’s what matters!” Tyler said. Then, out of the blue, the paintbrush dropped out of the sky, into Tyler’s hands. “Oh wow, would you look at that!” He said. “What?” Toggy said, confused. “Well, whatever,” Tyler said, smiling. “I sense another tool being carried here, from Rosella and Riven.” “Rosella?” Fredrick said. “Yeah! I’ll go check them!” He replied, walking off.


	20. Era of Escape: The Choice.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tota and Cliffe search for the tool, and hear a mysterious, but familiar, voice.

          Tota and Cliffe walked into the olden lands. However, when they got there, it was unusually, different. It felt slightly colder, and there was some moderate wind blowing. It was stuck in what looked like a forever evening. “Guess it won’t be just as easy as I thought,” Cliffe said. “Well, of course not,” Tota replied. They continued, until they reached Fera’s land. There, they saw that the place was empty of life, and deserted. It was even lightly snowing. “What’s this white stuff coming down on us?” Tota asked. “I don’t know,” Cliffe replied. After looking around, Tota got tired. “How are we supposed to find this powerful thing? We can’t sense it, or have any powers, or anything,” Tota asked.

 

          Right then, they both heard what sounded like whispers. They couldn’t make out who it was from, but it was telling them to go to the Feracios Coliseum. “Should we trust it?” Cliffe asked Tota. “Cautisially,” she replied. So, they walked to the coliseum in the distance. Then, they ran. But then, Tota fell through the ground, like it just popped out of existence! Luckily, a Cliffe grabbed her, and pulled her up. “How things have changed,” he said, as she scoffed at him. They journeyed, eventually making it to the train of Rosella and Fredrick’s story. Feeling like taking a break, they got on said train, and it rode towards the destination. Inside the train was pitch black, with only some light coming from out the windows. There, Tota and Cliffe talked.

 

          “I feel like, we could be more interesting,” Tota said. “What do you mean?” Cliffe asked her. “Well, we’ve kinda, just been in the background, ever since Fera made her sacrifice.” “Not true, we time travelled back, to help fix the universe!” “And?” … “We chose the most boring of the three options.” “Because we know it best!” Cliffe replied. “I guess…” Tota responded. After talking, Tota and Cliffe realized the train cart behind them disappeared. A bit scared, and knowing the cliff was coming up, they jumped out, and continued to the coliseum.

 

The voice guided them, and started explaining things. It told them that this part of the reality was fading away, after Taylor’s death. And that, what they needed, was within their grasp. “Okay,” Tota said. Eventually, they got to the foot of the Feracious Coliseum. It was crumbling, and falling apart. The once clean  stone bricks were now dusty, with some phasing out of reality, making it all crumble more. The voice told them to find a way inside. Cliffe started climbing the bricks, and then jumped in, and soon, Tota followed. There, they saw what awaited them.

 

* * *

 

 

It was the Judge, still alive, holding a small cube. Around the Judge, were wispy ghosts, resembling everyone else dead. Fera, William, Rinas, Ruiz and Lucia, Dave, everyone.  **“You two…”** Cliffe and Tota were confused, but then he explained.  **“After you all left, it was up to me to fix everything. And the best way to do that, was to, kill.”** This freaked out Cliffe and Tota, but they understood.  **“It has slowed the downcoming of the universe. However, there is one more that needs to be killed, and that I do not have the will to do. Myself.”** Cliffe stepped back.  **“This cube, was the source he felt. It is powering me. Simply remove it from my hand, and I will die, borrowing you a little more time. You must hurry.”** Tota didn’t want to though, so Cliffe grabbed it, and tried pulling it out of the Judge’s hand, horrified. He was killing the Judge. It was for the better, but, was it really worth it? Cliffe let go, then Tota finally stepped up, and easily grabbed the cube from the Judge. He then cracked a small smile, and he faded away, along with the ghosts.

 

          The stone bricks then began collapsing around them. Tota was scarred, so Cliffe forcefully smacked her, and told her to suck it up. She did, and they both dodged the falling stone, and climbed out. Tota then instantly dropped the cube, and Cliffe picked it up. “It’s okay,” she stuttered to herself, “It was for the better.” Then, they noticed that the air around them was very cold, and the winds were extreme. So, Cliffe and Tota raced to escape! However, the ground below Cliffe faded away, and he fell! And Tota failed to grab him. However, he floated back up, by the power of the cube! “Let’s go!” Cliffe exclaimed, knowing that the cube could help them now.

 

          They scrambled, with the ground below them phasing away a lot, but the cube always brought them back up. Then, everything shook violently. Tota and Cliffe looked away, and they saw that reality was finally collapsing, for good. Then, when they got to the middle of Fera’s world, Cliffe saw something. It was, another figure, of someone he knew. “Rosella?” “You’re hallucinating, let’s go!” Tota replied. But, the figure began speaking to them both. “Cliffe, Tota! I’m from the future!” It yelled. “Sh-shush!” Tota said, running off, while Cliffe stood there, with the cube. “Well, Cliffe, you need to listen!”  
  


* * *

 

 

          “W-What?” Cliffe replied, scared. “Don’t let Tyler get the cube!” “Why not?!” “The power of all three tools will get to him, he will turn for the worse!” Cliffe was confused. “Tyler is our only chance at escape!” “Well, in our future, he goes crazy, a-and,” she yelled, before started to fracture. “H-he has a good heart, but don’t let him touch i-“ She then fractured into pieces, her left arm landing on Cliffe. Then, Tota ran back to him. “C-come on, let’s go!” She yelled. “N-no,” Cliffe replied. Then, Tota tried forcefully pulling him, but he wouldn’t budge. “What’s the matter with you? I’m not going to have scarred myself for nothing!” “We can’t give him the cube…” “Why not?” “We can’t…” Then, the land around them started fracturing and fading out.

 

          “WE NEED TO GO!!!” Tota yelled, before forcefully grasping the cube from Cliffe. But, it was too late. The land around them was gone, and they were stuck on a small island. And not knowing how to use the cube, they were stuck. Then, they both started arguing. But, Cliffe was satisfied, knowing Tyler would never get the cube, and he would die for good. He then wondered how everyone would escape, though he knew this was for the best. But, out of the corner of his eye, he was a cylindrical device with fins. It was blasting towards them, and he could see Tyler was inside, with the two other tools nearby. “Oh, you got to be kidding me.” “Ha!”


	21. Era of Escape: The Nightmare Begins.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone except Cliffe and Tota meets up, and they go searching for those two.

          “Once upon a time, there was Tyler, and Robert. Their friends left, and they were tasked with building the best escape device there ever was! So, they built and built. Tyler summoned in the materials and tools, and Robert used them and put them together. And everything went smoothly, until, the end began. The universe rocked back and forth, destroying what they had had created. Robert was in despair, but Tyler didn’t give up. They took the destroyed remains, and continued working! The universe grew more and more vile, but they never gave up! Eventually, they created it. The tall metal cylinder. It had strong thrusters at the bottom. It had four fins on it. It was perfect. And, it was named…” “The S.S Escape Pod!” Tyler shouted. “Now, can you two stop bickering?” Robert asked Rosella and Fredrick.

 

          “No!” Rosella yelled, “Fredrick, I am done with you, for good! You can get out of my sight!” “Alright then!” Fredrick monotonously replied, before yelling, “Then stop talking to me!” “Hey hey,” Toggy said, budging in. “No, you get out!” Rosella replied, “And take your keyboard,” she said, throwing it to Tyler. “Oh, well,” Tyler then said, a bit relieved. “We got two of the three tools! But,” he choked on his words a bit, “Where are Cliffe and Tota?” “Oh, yeah, that’s a problem!” Robert replied. So everyone looked around, Fredrick and Rosella still angry at each other, and they saw a small island where Tota and Cliffe were. They were stuck on that island, with their tool! “We got to save them!” Fredrick said, in a panic. “Thanks for stating the obvious,” Rosella replied.

 

          “Well, let’s use the Escape Pod!” Tyler replied. “Yeah, we can use out two tools to sail there, and nab the third with Cliffe and Tota, then go!” Robert replied. So, everyone got in the S.S Escape Pod. The interior was messy, with wires everywhere, and tech exposed. It wa s only meant to be used to escape. Tyler sat in the pilot’s seat, everyone else behind him. “So, how do we get power from these things?” Riven asked him, holding the paintbrush. “Simple! As long as they are inside the ship, it sucks up the power they emit, letting us use it!” Tyler replied. “Oh, neat,” Fredrick replied, “Isn’t it,” he said, looking at Rosella. “Yeah, really is,” she replied, with anger seeping out. Rosella and Fredrick then got out from their seats, going to opposite sides of the ship. “Alright, launching in three two…”

 

_ BOOM!!! _

 

* * *

  
  


…”Taylor?”

…”Taylor! What are you doing?!”

“Doing what I want,” Taylor replied, absorbing the powerful tools around him, twisting his body, making him screech.

“Taylor!”

“I know, I know, but it’s for the better,” Taylor said, as he began twisting reality itself, making the castle crumble. There, everyone ran out in terror, and saw him.

Without a single word being spoken, everyone knew what was happening. “Taylor, you have to stop!” The Ordinary Girl cried out. “Please, for all of us,” The Judge demanded.

But, he wouldn’t budge ...

 

* * *

 

 

          The ship sailed off, at a million miles per hour! It shook everyone inside, before Tyler presses a button, letting them rest. “Alright, we’re sailing through the universe while it’s breaking, so the trip will take a while I assume?” Riven asked Tyler and Robert. “Yeah,” Robert replied, before getting out blueberry pie, “But I made something for us in the meantime, just Incase!” So, they all ate, pleasantly, except for the fact that Rosella threw her pie at Fredrick’s face, claiming she wasn’t hungry. “You two need to stop, at least wait until we get out of this hell!” Toggy exclaimed.

 

          After a while, the ship had a big thud, passing through the broken rocks of reality that still remained. This made Riven accidentally let go of the paintbrush, as it flew to Tyler’s hand. He then looked at it for a second. He saw how much power was coming off of it. “A lot,” he said, before Robert nabbed it from him. “We can’t have you using this for the worse. “Yeah, I know.” This provoked Toggy to talk to Riven. “We met someone, who mentioned that Taylor went mad with power. Maybe that might happen with Tyler?” “Even so, what other choice do we have?” “Hm, you’re right.”

 

          Eventually, they reached the small island with Cliffe and Tota, where they saw quite the site. Tota was unconscious, and Cliffe was floating, holding the cube, with power all around him. “What do we do?” Robert asked everyone, a bit scared. “I’ll go out, and talk to him,” Tyler replied. So, he got out of the ship, and went onto the island, next to Tota’s body. The ship stayed where it was, observing everything. “Cliffe, we need that cube to escape!” Tyler said to Cliffe. “No, you will end all of us! I can’t give you the cube!” “You can’t hold that much power for long! And the universe is collapsing, we will all fall if we can’t escape!” “There needs to be another way!”

 

          There, Cliffe amazed a large ball of white light, and threw it at Tyler. There, it homed in on him, and hit, severely injuring him! In a panic, Robert piloted the ship to him, and picked him up. “We need to go!” Robert yelled. “We need the cube, and Cliffe back!” Then, Tyler grabbed the paintbrush, and the keyboard. “I don’t know how, but I’m going to need to use these to win Cliffe over. “Are you sure that’s safe?” Fredrick asked him. “Whatever, go!” Rosella replied, pushing atyler out, before Robert steered the ship a bit away.

 

          Tyler stood on the withering away island with an unconscious Tota, with the two tools he had no idea how to use. And Cliffe floated in the air, with a cube he knew how to fully use. There, a battle began. Once which, would decide the fate of everyone. And unknown to everyone, there was an extra spectator. Blanky. He wanted to jump in, and fix everything, but, he could not. He was to shy too. So, he let the battle begin.

 


	22. Era of Escape: The Right Way.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler and Cliffe create a divide in the remaining group, and a battle occurs between them, with potentially mortal consequences. The nightmare ensues.

          Tyler stood, and looked at Cliffe, as he dealt more and more blows to him. He got more and more hurt, yet, somehow, did not die. They eventually pushed him to the edge of the island. “Cliffe, this is not the right way!” He yelled. Cliffe just looked away. “Tyler, I have seen a message from the future. If you are to collect all three tools, then bad things will happen!” Then, Cliffe summoned many cartoonish swords, all floating around him, aimed at Tyler. “I’m sorry, there has to be another way,” Cliffe said, launching them at him.

 

          They got closer and closer, when Tyler accidentally stroked a shield with the paintbrush, deflecting them! One of the swords nearly hit Tota’s body, and most of the others fell off the edge. “Just take the ship then! Leave me behind, I will give you these!” Tyler shouted, holding out the tools he had, “Just don’t hurt anymore people!” “No! You’ve trapped that ship somehow!” Cliffe replied, floating to the ground, and picking up a sword, before enchanting it with a fiery red glow, Seeing no other choice, Tyler was forced into battle.

 

          They battled, and everyone in the S.S Escape Pod was talking. “You know, maybe Cliffe is right,” Fredrick said. “Yeah, someone we met said that Taylor also had this much power, and went crazy,” Toggy replied. “Nonsense, you two are making stuff up!” Rosella yelled. “Yeah, we got to trust Tyler, there’s no other way!” Robert replied, turning back at everyone. “We didn’t go collecting those tools for nothing,” Riven said, “I was destined to liberate everyone, I can’t see us falling apart right before our escape!” “There must be some other way to escape with these tools then?” Fredrick questioned.

 

* * *

 

          While they were talking about who was right, the ship felt a huge thud! They looked outside the window, and saw Tyler almost unconscious, with Cliffe charging up energy and throwing it at the ship. “W-What do we do?” Robert said, in a panic. “Let us out,” Rosella replied. “What?” “We need to defeat Cliffe, and Tyler can’t do that alone. “But…” “Just open the ship!” Finally, Robert pressed a button, and the hatch to the Escape Pod opened. There, Rosella and Riven jumped out. And right as Robert tried closing it, Fredrick and Toggy also jumped out. Robert could’ve closed the hatch on them, but didn’t want to see harm done to them.

 

          “Tyler!” Rosella yelled, coming to his aid, “Are you okay?” “What? Get back in the ship!” He yelled back, “Reality is collapsing, I can’t see unnessesary harm done!” “We have no other choice but to aid you!” Riven replied, also standing by his said. “Well, Okay. Take the keyboard, we can work better split up,” Tyler replied, giving it, “Also, look out!” Rosella and Riven immediately turned around and jumped back, seeing Toggy behind them, holding her hand out. Fredrick then landed beside her. “It’s the only way,” she said, letting out a tear. “Don’t worry Toggy, we’ll fix you, after this is over!” Fredrick said, consoling her. Fredrick and Toggy then dashed to Cliffe’s side.

 

          “You’re making a mistake!” Rosella yelled at them. “No, you are!” Fredrick yelled back. Robert then sadly backed the ship far away, not wanting to see it damaged. “We don’t have to fight,” Tyler said to the opposing side, “We can talk this out!” “It’s the only way,” Fredrick responded. “I promise, I will not kill any of you, except maybe Tyler,” Cliffe said, charging up something. “Same, back to you,” Tyler said, slowly, and unsure.

 

_ Cliffe _

_ Fredrick _

_ Toggy _

 

_   vs. _

 

_ Tyler _

_ Rosella _

_ Riven _

 

          “I’m the only chance at a peaceful ending, aren’t I?” Blanky said to himself, in the distance. Thinking for a bit, he finally decided to take action. He floating towards the island where the battle was about to take place at. But, it wasn’t easy floating through the broken reality, which was starting to collapse, and was constantly rumbling.

 

* * *

 

          Cliffe immediately threw his ball of energy at Tyler, only for Riven to counteract it with his own ball of energy. Rosella and Fredrick then charged at each-other, and Fredrick tried grabbing the keyboard from her, only to get shocked. “It’s Tyler’s!” She yelled, as Fredrick grabbed it again, and tried pulling it more and more from her. Eventually, her hands gave up, and she let go for a second, before regrabbing the cord. She then picked up a sword from the ground, and tried to strike Fredrick. But the keyboard then shocked her, and she almost hit Riven by accident. “Ah!” He said, “We need to split up the battle, to avoid hitting eachother!” Rosella, agreeing, then nodded at Riven, who went off before Toggy chased him. Rosella was now fighting Fredrick, Riven was now fighting Toggy, and Tyler was now fighting Cliffe.

 

(The following three paragraphs take place at the same time, split up for your reading pleasure.)

 

          “Toggy!” Riven yelled, charging and firing many small electric balls. Toggy simply touched them, and continued chasing him. She got closer and closer to him, until, Tyler threw a sword to him! Then, he prepared to strike her. “Don’t worry you very ordinary girl, Tyler will heal everyone when this is over, and we can escape!” He then charged a ball of energy, and simultaneously threw it and struck her! She touched the ball, and almost touched the sword, but got mortally wounded on the side of her body. “N-no…” She said, as blood slowly poured out, “You’re on the wrong side.” She then fell over. Riven then went to her ear. “I was destined to save everyone,  _ don’t get in my way. _ ” In a last ditch effort, she raised her hand, before Riven simply walked away from her, leaving her to stay until the fight was, over. “Looks like I move on, to the next round…”

 

          Fredrick and Rosella dueled. Rosella constantly swung her sword, and Fredrick constantly tried shocking her, as she dodged it. Eventually, Fredrick started using the keyboard like a flail, swinging it around! He threw the end at Rosella, but missed, and hit Cliffe instead. “Ah!” Fredrick said, before slowly moving the fight away from them. As they continued dueling, they had a talk. “What happened between us?” Fredrick said, sternly. “Time happened. The story wanted us to be together, so I say no to that! It wasn’t going to work anyways!” “We could have been prosperous,” Fredrick shouted, before swinging faster and more frantically. “Yeah, we could’ve.” Rosella then got cornered at the edge of the island, beside Tota’s body. She then picked Tota up, and closed her eyes with a small smile. “If you want to end me, you’re going through her fir-“ She was then struck from the back from the keyboard, and electrocuted intensity. She then fell to the floor weakly, where Fredrick continued hitting her, before then stopping. Tota then woke up, confused. Fredrick tried to catch her, but she ran off!

 

          Tyler stroked many swords, as Cliffe created many more, and they sent them at each other, causing them all to break. Cliffe then floated above Tyler, and prepared to send many balls of energy at him. “It’s over, you can’t fl-“ Then, he got struck by Fredrick’s flail! He fell to the ground, and Tyler got ready to strike, when he noticed that Riven was being chased by Toggy. So, he threw his sword to him, as Cliffe got back up. “You remember the mountain all that time ago? Remember how you pushed me, then abandoned us all?” “It was for the greater good, I needed silence to plan out our escape!” “And in the process many of us died!” There was silence. Then, Cliffe began charging up the biggest beam of energy ever, as Tyler painted a stronger and stronger shield. “Why didn’t you stop Taylor from completing the cycle?! Why didn’t you help us find another way to break everything, instead of killing Dave?! Why didn’t you do anything?!” Tyler stayed quiet. Then, Cliffe blasted his beam, going through more and more of Tyler’s shield. “You are evil, and will die!” His shield then finally broke, and the beam hit Tyler, majorly wounding him. He fell to his knees, and dropped The now blood soaked paintbrush. Cliffe then stopped floating, and stood over him, charging one last beam. “Why didn’t you help?” He said, with some blue falling from his eyes.

 

...

 

Then, something happened!

 

* * *

 

          A sword came out of his chest! It twitched through, and shaked a lot. Cliffe was then dead silent, knowing who it was that impaled him. “Wh...Wh…” He then fell over, revealing a petrified Tota, who was frozen. Cliffe’s body then slammed into the ground, dropping the cube, before Tyler picked it and the paintbrush back up. “C-Cliffe?” Tyler choked out. Fredrick and Riven then walked over, and saw what happened. Tota fatally impaled Cliffe, and Tyler can’t save him by healing in time, as it would take too long. “Heh…” Cliffe let out, “Tota… You…” Tota was frozen, so scarred from killing her once best friend, and the Judge. She then took, the sword, and aimed it at herself, but didn’t end it all. She dropped it, and fell to the ground crying. She made an impulsive decision. Then, she decided, she would NEVER, ever kill another again. Toggy and Fredrick looked at each other, and decided they were on the wrong side.

 

          The fight stalled, and no more blood was shed. Tyler went to Toggy and Rosella, and healed them. Then, Tyler summoned a flower, and put it over Cliffe’s body. “I did the wrong thing,” Tota spurred out, before Riven put his hand around her. Robert, seeing that the fight stalled, then brought the ship over. “We got to go, NOW!!!” He screamed, as the universe was now on its last legs. Everyone boarded, one by one, until it was just Tyler and Toggy. “Well, you coming?” Tyler just stood there, and looked at the cube and paintbrush. He could see, all the power. “Wait!” Toggy yelled. “Now that, we have all three of the tools…” She said. “Can we quickly try to get rid of my, power?” “Fine, but we got to be quick!” Robert replied.

 

          So, Fredrick gave Tyler the keyboard. Now, Tyler finally, had all three of the tools. He looked into them, and saw the trinity they made. The trinity, of Taylor. Taylor, the child. Taylor, the painter. Taylor, the animator. But, one was missing. Taylor had, a fourth stage. But Tyler smiled, knowing it was here. He then went to Toggy, and tried messing around. “Okay, I think I’ve found a way to remove your powers!” He said, as the universe literally spurred and crumbled, knocking him and Toggy off balance. “Hurry!” Toggy exclaimed. Tyler then made all the tools float above him, as they created a light reflective orb. The orb then went to Toggy. “Touch it,” Tyler said. So, she did. And, it popped, and everything faded to white…

 

“It worked!”

 

 

 

_ "We are not tools, but there are tools!" _

_ "Tools of good? Tools of evil fools?" _

_ "Tools that will cause the nightmare to begin," _

_ "Tools that make the story's fin." _


	23. Era of Escape: Betrayal And Acceptance.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew makes an attempt at escape.  
> Final chapter of Book 4.

…

 

          Toggy looked at her hands. They weren’t glowing. They were, actually normal. Her arms, legs… Her clothes were a normal red color… Her hair, a normal black. And for a brief second, she smiled. Then, everything broke. The ground swelled and cracked, and reality around her and Tyler ceased to exist. “Ah!” Tyler let out, being knocked over, as Toggy only barely stayed up. The S.S Escape Pod then got closer, ready to pick them both up, along with the tools. Tyler then got all three tools, and for a brief second looked at them, before throwing them in the ship! He got up, and was ready to board, when the ground below him and Toggy melded away! The island disappeared! There, Tyler grabbed on to a fin of the ship, and to Toggy’s arm. She was frozen, as he did not disappear. “Robert, get us a hand!” He yelled. Robert then opened the hatch, and pulled Tyler in, before they both pulled Toggy in, and closed the hatch.

 

          “W-What?” She let out. “No time to explain, we need to go!” Tyler responded, pressing all sorts of buttons in the front. Then, the ship began moving! It rumbled a bit, concerning some of the members inside. “Is this s-safe?” Fredrick asked, almost being brought down. “It would be, but we don’t have time to turn on the safety features!” Robert replied. Then, they felt a weird thud, from the outside. “Huh, that’s not right,” Tyler said, before putting it aside. Then, Robert flipped a switch. The thrusters let out an ear bleeding blast, and the ship was then soaring at light speed! It got faster, and faster. Robert screamed, and Fredrick and Rosella held hands in fear, before realizing they hated each other, and stopping.

 

          Everyone could see through the windows on the front of the distorted reality they were leaving. One second, it looked like many red triangles. Another, blue cubes. Eventually, it became a chaotic mess, as they got extremely fast. All that time though, Tyler was looking at the three tools, seeing how, powerful and, beautiful, they were. He wanted to give one to Robert and Riven so he wouldn’t have all three, but his hands forcefully clawed onto them. “Tyler, you okay?” Robert asked him. “I’m fine,” Tyler replied, kind of in a single tone. Robert then tried taking one of the tools from him, but couldn’t. His grip was powerful. “Tyler, you shouldn’t be gripping those so ha-“ Then, the ship soared through the space, making what felt like a huge rip, over and over.

 

          Then, it stopped, and out the window was, nothing. Not nothing nothing, just, black. “That’s not right, there should be many lighty specs!” Robert yelled, “It’s like, this is some inbetween are, between, the chaotic mess, and, freedom.” “Well, hurry” Riven shouted, “We need to escape quickly!” So, they continued soaring through the black. But, it suddenly stopped. “Huh?” Robert looked at Tyler, who was slightly, odd. “Are you doing something?” Robert asked him. Tyler didn’t respond. “Please don’t, Please don’t make C-Cliffe have been right!” Tota screamed. “Riven, blast Tyler,” Tyler commanded him. “What, why?” “I think it’s him, he needs to not hold onto them so hard.” So, Riven charged up quite a ball, then threw it at Tyler. But, he barely reacted, only blinking. “I’m sorry,” Tyler responded, “The power, is _so_ great, _It’s_ **_driving me…”_**

 

* * *

 

          Light then surrounded Tyler, as he screamed in pain. Tyler then took the cube, and forced it into his glowing body, fusing himself with it, before doing so with the paintbrush, and keyboard.  “Get him out!” Fredrick yelled. “No, we need the power to continue-“ There was then an explosion. The Escape Pod burst into pieces, and everyone flew in separate directions, away from the glowing Tyler. “T-Ty…” Robert said.  **_“I really am sorry,”_ ** Tyler let out, before raising both his arms.

 

**_“I know too much… I know how insignificant you all are… But, with these tools, I can ascend to the levels of Taylor... To the gods… But, to do that, I need to remove you…”_ ** Tyler then began crying, as Riven was charging a bigger and bigger blast, before stopping, knowing violence wouldn’t solve this. “Tyler…” Tota said to him, “It’s okay… Just, let us be free first…” Tyler was silent, and frozen. “Remember back, before you went to map out our world?” Silence. “We had a lot of fun moments. Remember when we played hide and we couldn’t find William, only for him to reveal he literally hid himself under the ground by digging? That was funny…”  **_“Yes, I remember that…”_ ** “It was so fun, you lifted everyone,” Fredrick added. Tyler then calmed down, still holding out one arm.

 

          “Remember when Robert tried baking a cake for The Mayor’s birthday, only for it to be thrown into the ground by Cliffe out of anger?” Rosella said, smirking a bit.  **_“Y-Yes…”_ ** Riven then added, “Remember when we-“  **_“LIAR!!! You never met me until now! You all are just trying to stop me!”_ ** Tyler then raised both his arms, and began channeling existential energy through himself, making him grow more and more. “N-no! We aren’t doing that!” Robert shouted.

 

**_“Aagh! Enough! I’ve had enough! I will send you all to a personal hell, where I will despairingly watch you all die horrible and painful deaths!”_ ** The reality around everyone shook, and everyone could hear, what sounded like, ocean waves?  **_“But, I need a little, more! I will Control matter for this!”_ ** Particles of iron and wood came to Tyler, from the direction that the ship came from. There, Tyler used his glowing magic, to turn it into, the gavel! Tyler then held it high!  **_“Away from the chaotic world! In this quiet place, where the destruction of everything can be stalled!”_ ** “No!” Tota yelled. Riven just watched in fear. Rosella and Fredrick looked at each other, and Robert cried. “What happened?” Toggy said. Then, everything, ceased to exist. Once more? Who can tell anymore.

 

It is here where the final tale begins. The tale of acceptance, 

Born from Tyler’s desire to kill everyone harmlessly, and out of his sight, as deep inside of him, he still had feelings.

Though, you may not want to read it. The outcome is not the best.

Without ado, let’s begin, the final tale. The final creation of a story, from the madness.

 

* * *

 

Tale Of Acceptance

Written By: Tyler

  
  
  


...

 

“Give up? Accept fate?”

“Yeah, there’s nothing else to do!”

“We can go around, find someone to help us!

“With what? Our broken ship? Don’t tire yourself!

“Well, we have to do something!”

 

The castaways argued, stranded on one small island, surrounded by endless oceans. There was no hope at escape, they were stuck there for the rest of their lives. As the sun soared down and the moon flung up, they all fell asleep.

 

“I guess that’s what we do. We die, together.”

“That’s not the worst outcome, let’s be honest.”

“I wish I could make us food.”

“That’s okay. Now, we accept the future, with open arms. We die, next to each other.”

“I don’t want to die.”

“Me neither.”

 

The waves endlessly rocked back and forth, as the days grey paler and paler. But, by the power of friendship, it was alright. In their minds, they had won. No rescue was coming in their minds. It was okay. The six spent the rest of their days remembering the past, and making some observations.

 

“I remember many of us dying, we’re the last ones.”

“I wish it was clear, like certain parts of our memory were wiped.”

“But that’s okay, we got this far, and it is now over.”

“Y-Yeah.”

“Oh hey, look, a storm is coming!”

 

They could see the light, the end. Their bellies empty. Their minds numb. Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye. The waves stayed the same, rocking back and forth. And no help would ever, ever arrive. But they had each other. So, the days passed. It got worse and worse, until they could no longer move.

 

“There it is. Our heaven.”

“We gave up, and that’s okay. It’s, okay…”

“I’m scared. I don’t want to go. I don’t want to go!”

“Let our feud end, please.”

“In the face of death? Sure.”

 

It was coming. Approaching faster than ever. And they were ready. So, they reached their arms out, and waited. The waves still rocked, and everything was bleak. Vale, vale, vale. And then it came.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


But, it was not heaven. It was a sailor! One, with a familiar, face.

 

“I’m here to rescue you, get in!”

“Do I know you?”

“The Past always comes back. Never give up.”

 

The sailor took them in, and gave them food and water.

 

“Why are you doing this? Why didn’t you just let us die?”

“I couldn’t bare to see it. I couldn’t watch the end.”

“Thank… You… Kind……… Sir…”

  
  
  


Then, they reached safety. There, their life dreams came true. One finally got to mourn their lost friend. Another become the best baker there ever was! Two of them reconciled. Another become an explorer of the wilderness. And the last married the sailor.

 

“Thank you?”

“No, thank you!”

 

The time went by, and their lives passed. The mourner become a botanist, the baker won many awards and opened up a business, the reconcilers became explorers, and the married were just happy. The explorer, too.

 

“This is the story of three heros…”

 

Time passed more. And more. The botanist lived a good life. The baker, too. So did those two. The sailor in the married went away, but the other was still, fine. The explorer saw many things.

 

“The train went over the valley, safely…”

 

Then, the end times approached. They all moved into the same house, to have a few more fun times together. And they all heard the static coming from the radio, reminding them of the waves, on the island.

 

“Now, we give up, for real, right?”

“Our lives are fun, and I’m finally ready for it.”

“No hell in sight, just the heavens…”

“I hope he’s happy out there, without me.”

“Heh…”

 

Each night they went to bed, all knowing they would die in their sleeps. Unknown to all of them, there was a voice calling to them in this time. Calling them to not give up, to escape. But, they always forgot, or ignored it.

 

“One more night… That’s what the doctor said.”

“One more, then it’s over for all of us.”

“Cheers, everyone. Sleep well!”

 

They slept. It was a slow night, but a good one.

 

…

 

Goodbye…

 

...

 

One of them heard the call. Then two. Then, all of them.

 

…

 

Then, they passed.

 

…

 

Vale…

 

...

 

* * *

 

“Another chance at escape, don’t lose it. Your odds may be low, but you must take it.”


End file.
